Kingdom Hearts, 2 point 5
by furriusmurrius
Summary: A story of epic proportions involving Sora and a mysterious syndicate called the Legion of Shadows. What are their motives, and what do they want with the 'Dark One? I guarantee you'll be hooked...please, read and respond! C.77 UP!
1. Prelude & Chapter I

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters, locations, weapons, or ideas created by Nomura, Disney or Square-Enix.

KINGDOM HEARTS 2.5 

PRELUDE

It was an ordinary day on the Destiny Islands. Riku, a young purple haired boy, lounged against a rock near a small pool of water. He was enjoying a strange treat called 'sea-salt ice cream' which had recently gained popularity in the Islands, though nobody could really place why it was so popular. Sweet and salty. Yin and yang, perhaps? The compliment of flavors was indicative of the dual nature of man...Riku knew very well that darkness hides deep within the hearts of every man.

Meanwhile, on a sheer cliff face about one-hundred feet away from Riku there stood two figures. One, a very attractive young woman with auburn hair, leaned against a tree stump staring out into the sea. Next to her, almost dozing off, was a young man with untamable brown hair and large, welcoming eyes.

"You know, at this time last year we were almost dead. It's moments like this that make me question why we ever put ourselves in so much danger."  
"Kairi, we didn't have a choice. It was destiny...the chosen few, the selected heroes. Besides, we wouldn't be back here in one piece if we hadn't put ourselves in danger. Danger's my middle name."  
"You don't have a middle name."  
"Well...you know what I mean. Danger can be fun. Adds a little spice to life, don't you think?"  
"I was always left behind. I'm the girl, remember? I always got in the way."

She turned her back on the boy and continued to stare out into the sunset. The boy looked perplexed.

"Kairi, I never meant to insinuate that you..."  
"Couldn't handle myself? If you remember, I was able to wield a keyblade too, mister. So if the keyblade thinks enough of me to let me use it in battle, the least you could do is understand why. I'm not weak, Sora."  
"I just...never want to see you get hurt. Kairi, that would be the worst thing I could ever think of."

At that moment, a loud crack shot through the ears of everyone on the Destiny Islands. A huge black portal appeared down by the docks, sucking boats and buoys and anything not nailed down into it. It only stopped when a large figure wearing a sleek, silver suit and a black mask with a silver smilie face on it stepped out. If it wasn't so ominous, the masked man could have looked comical - but no, this man was serious business, and for that reason he scared the hell out of the purple haired boy less than fifty feet from him.

Riku shot up like an arrow.  
"Who are you? What do you mean by this?"

The Masked Man looked at Riku. The smile on his mask stared deep into Riku's soul. He answered with a gesture toward the black portal.

"As a general rule of thumb, I don't just hop into black vacuuming holes with completely creepy strangers. Call me crazy."  
A shrill piercing laugh shot from the Masked Man. It sounded inhuman. It was definitely not human. The Masked Man extended his arms out and in each hand a long, sleek weapon formed. These weapons looked odd - not quite swords, not quite axes - but one could glean just by looking at them that they held tremendous power. In one fell swoop, he shot at Riku, ending up behind him. Riku dropped his sea-salt ice cream and held out his right arm, flexing his fingers and awaiting a sensation that hadn't happened for at least a year.

But that sensation never came.  
"What? C'mon, where the hell is it?"  
He couldn't wait any longer. Riku had to call for help.  
"Sora! Kairi! Help! I...I can't summon my keyblade!"

Up on the cliff, Sora's ears perked up. He was about five inches from Kairi's beautiful face. He would have kissed her. He would have finally done it. But goddamn it all, someone was calling his name. He stood up and looked down at Riku, bent over in pain, next to a Masked Man. 

"Sora, what's wrong?"  
"Riku. No time to lose, Kairi. Forgive me!"  
And with that, he bounded from the stump up to the highest reaches of a tree nearby, grabbed one of the largest palm leaves he could find and parachuted down below to the oasis.  
"No way! Damn it, Sora! You don't get to be the hero all the time!"  
And she jumped from the cliff into a free fall. Suddenly, Sora jerked downward a little faster than he was...with Kairi hanging from his legs.

"You know, on second thought, this was a terrible idea!"  
Sora smirked. "You think?"

They hit the ground with little difficulty. Sora grabbed Kairi's hand and in that instant, something unexpected happened. A large keyblade formed between their hands. Actually, not one large keyblade. Two normal sized ones. The Kingdom Key and the Oathkeeper were now at their command.

"Well, I guess if I am gonna be the hero this time around, you get to be my sidekick."  
"Sidekick? I'll pass." Kairi said. "But you know what? I just might need an official keyblade polisher when this is all through. Interested?"

The two smiled and charged at the Masked Man. A valiant fighter, he was easily able to keep Kairi and Sora at bay with his Dual Keyblades. Swing after swing, all the two friends seemed to connect with were either his keyblades or the dirt. The Masked Man drew his weapons up, and in a flash of light swung down with such force that it knocked the blades from both of their hands, piercing the tree that Riku was leaning against not minutes before. The Masked Man unsummoned his keyblades, leaving his hands free to do the task they had set out to do - kidnapping Riku.

"Come back here! Riku!" But Sora's screams fell on deaf ears. Riku and The Masked Man were through the slowly closing portal. Tendrils of darkness lashed out and slowly sewed up the dark hole in the Destiny Islands.

"Well, it's now or never Sora. Looks like we won't be getting to finish that raft after all."  
Sora just snapped his fingers, disappointedly. He grabbed Kairi's hand, gave her a peck on the cheek and the two of them sprinted through the portal into the unknown.

CHAPTER I  
BETWIXT, BETWEEN AND BEFUDDLED

Sora fought with all his might to see through the darkness. He was falling, tendrils of darkness lashing out at him from all angles, and every time he had gotten his bearings straight, they flipped him on his head and turned him around once more.

"KAIRI! RIKU! ANYONE!" He called into the darkness. Nothing. He pulled at his hair with anguish. "NO! I can't have lost them both again! This is impossible!"

"Quit your whining, Sora."  
The voice was very familiar. One he had heard in dreams and nightmares. He immediately knew who it was, though he had a very hard time coming to grips with it.

"Axel?"  
"Sora. Summon your keyblade."  
He did as he was told, and like the Red Sea before Moses, the darkness split and made way for the keyblade master. He could see a dreary path that lead to a portal similar to the one he had entered to get here up ahead. But there was no sign of Riku or Axel. No sign of Kairi.

"Axel! Where are you? Are you alright? Are you...alive?"  
Axel laughed to himself in the darkness. "You know the answer to that one, bud. This is the dark realm. An eternal resting place for nobodies. Got it memorized?"  
"But...how did I get here then? I'm not...I'm not dead, am I?"  
"Jeez, you're almost as dumb as Roxas. No you're not dead. How should I know how you got here? You're not even a nobody...or did you forget that, too? Sora. You're just passing through," Axel sneered. "Just pass through the portal and you'll meet back up with Kairi. She's a little quicker on the uptake than you..."

But as Sora was heeding Axel's advice, a sight he hadn't seen in a year befell him. Six Dusk nobodies materialized around Sora and closed in. With a masterful slash, he dispatched three in one blow, but turned too late for the other three and was tackled, sending his keyblade flying. It hit a patch of wall like an arrow hitting its target, and started to become engulfed in darkness. Using his quick reactionary skills, he slid from beneath the dusks and then behind, quickly entangling them all with one another. But that was the least of his problems.

By this point, at least twenty assorted other nobodies had spawned around Sora and the three dusks. Snipers and assassins, mostly. Far too many for Sora to take on by himself with the keyblade; completely impossible without.

But with a flash of light, Axel dropped down from above, two flaming chakrams spinning in his hands. He gave Sora a knowing look, and without words they began a powerful limit attack. Spinning his chakrams overhead like a spinning top, Axel indicated to Sora to jump on. They bellowed "SPIRAL OF FLAMES!" as Axel let go of his chakrams, sending Sora on a whirlwind of flame and darkness, quickly dispatching all the remaining nobodies.

"You know, if I had a weapon as cool as that keyblade I wouldn't wanna let it become engulfed by darkness. Get your blade, and get to the door. Got it memorized?" With that, Axel jumped off into the darkness. 

Sora did as he was told, and headed for the door at a full tilt, grabbing his keyblade from its place in the wall as he went. Before being sucked through the portal, he turned back and looked up into the indiscernible darkness. "Thanks, Axel." And with that, he was led through the portal into yet another new world.


	2. Chapter II: A Newly Radiant Garden

CHAPTER II  
A NEWLY RADIANT GARDEN

Kairi lifted herself up from the tall grass and brushed off her skirt. "Gotta work on those landings," She thought to herself. Kairi looked left and saw a giant, menacing castle. She knew at once that it was the castle where she was held imprisoned with the other princesses of light by Malifecent and shuddered. It had been a while since she saw that place. Quickly turning her back on the bad memory, she was greeted with a much more pleasant sight - a town full of hustle and bustle, shops, fresh and friendly faces and quite possibly best of all, food. She hadn't realized how long the trip through the dark realm had taken her, but she knew she had missed at least two meals and would have eaten her keyblade, if that were at all possible.

The town square was cute. Small, but cute. She resigned herself to a local store and purchased some soup by bartering some pretty stones she had on her with a strange looking creature. A little bit like a cat, but with a red nose and squinty little eyes. Well, whatever it was, it was cute, she decided. Sitting herself down at an unoccupied table, she decided the best thing to do was wait for Sora. She was a patient girl. She had waited longer before.

Finishing the final sips of her soup in a rather unlady-like manner, Kairi was taken aback by three small heartless running into the square. Most of the people screamed and ran for cover, but Kairi stood up.

"Hm. Well, I've seen the boys do this a million times. Worth a shot." And she stuck out her hand, fingers clenched around an imaginary keyblade that sooner than not had materialized in her hand. She jumped and pounded the first into dust, and did a backwards slash, taking out the final two. "Easy! And...fun! Don't worry folks, it's ok!"

Then, running at full force from where the heartless had come from came a man with long black hair and a red outfit. He looked gothic, and if it weren't for the headband holding some of his hair back, he would have been completely hidden from view in his mane of hair. His tattered red cloak swayed in the wind as he slowed to a stop. Taking his three-barreled gun from a battle stance, he slid it into a hip holster and bowed to Kairi, ever so slightly.

"Thanks. That was the last of them, for now. I've been chasing them from the crystal fissure, for crying out loud. You know how those things can get...if just one escapes, he comes back with a thousand more. Thanks for the help," said the mysterious man in red.

Kairi smiled widely. She hadn't been thanked for helping in so long. In fact, Sora and Riku barely even liked to acknowledge the fact that she was strong. She knew the reason though - if Sora and Riku both thought she was able to take care of herself, what would the two of them argue over? She giggled and held out her hand to the stranger.  
"No problem, friend! My name's Kairi. Those...those were heartless, right?"

"Yeah. Shadows. Weak, but...annoying. Hmph."  
"I'm sorry...I didn't get your name."  
"I didn't give it. Vincent. Vincent Valentine. The pleasure is all mine, dear." He bent over and kissed the back of Kairi's hand. She could feel something strange about his mouth, something she didn't recognize...but she adored being charmed, so she allowed him to continue for a moment before drawing her hand back to her side. She blushed. "Um...you haven't seen a boy about my age with crazy brown hair, have you? We got separated recently."  
Though it was hard to see his face through his cloak, Vincent clearly smiled smugly. "Nope. Sorry princess, haven't seen your boyfriend. Nice meeting you though. Hopefully next time...it'll be far more pleasant a circumstance." With that, he reached into his pocket, grabbed something that he threw to the ground creating a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, he was gone, leaving Kairi standing perplexed in the center of the town square.

Sora bounded around the familiar streets of Radiant Garden. Stopping to give Hewey, Dewey and Louie high fives, he borrowed Scrooge McDuck's skateboard and was off to find Kairi. Axel said she was quicker than him...so she must be somewhere in Radiant Garden, right? Sora didn't need to think much more about it when he almost ran right into Kairi standing in the center of the square.

"Kairi! I'm glad you're alright. Don't do that kind of stuff - you scared me!"  
"Oh, and you don't think I was scared when you went and disappeared for a year? I can't believe you boys! You know, I can handle myself! I don't need a babysitter."  
Sora winced. "I'm not trying to baby-sit...I just..."  
Kairi changed the subject very forcibly. "Fine. Where are we?"  
"Welcome to Radiant Garden. I've met a lot of people here. Lots of good friends. This is a pretty safe place to be."

Kairi looked off to where Vincent and the heartless had come from. "If it's so safe...how come there are heartless running around?"  
"Heartless?"  
"Yeah, I just took three of them out. Sora, have you seen Riku?"  
He bit his lip. "No. But, we both ended up here...so maybe he's around here somewhere too?"  
"Radiant Garden, huh?" Kairi asked. "Very familiar."  
"Well, it used to be called Hollow Bastion. But the restoration committee looks like they did a great job! I can hardly recognize the place."  
"Hollow Bastion? Isn't that where..."  
Trying to stave off the bad memories, Sora quickly interjected.  
"Yeah. Let's go down this alley. There's some friends I want you to meet."

With the fresh memory of Vincent in her mind, Kairi only nodded and followed Sora down the alley.


	3. Chapter III: Pushing The Envelope

CHAPTER III  
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE

Vincent walked the long stairway up the castle, barely making a sound. Heartless kept spawning all around him, but none attacked. It was very rare for a heartless to show fear or cowardice in any way...most of them just attacked relentlessly and didn't have time to process emotions such as 'fear'. But these heartless...they were afraid of Vincent. They bowed their antennas to him and scurried into dark corners where he wouldn't be bothered by them.

After slamming through several doors, he reached a large room with a huge portal of multiple colors. Shaped like a heart and connected to a large computer terminal, it was an intimidating sight to say the least.

But in front of the portal was a clear portal, perpetuated by permanent reflega magic. It allowed you to see through the portal...but not pass through. In front of that was a throne made of silver and gold. The person who owned this castle certainly spared no expense. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling, speckled with dark shards, frost shards, thunder shards...pretty much any rare synthesis item you could imagine was decorating this castle. The owner had good taste.

Vincent wasn't impressed. In fact, he grew weary of this castle very quickly. But if it wasn't for his latest message from Maximilian, he wouldn't have even showed up. He picked up a mini pocket computer from his cloak and re-read the message.

MEET ME AT THE CASTLE. THE DARK ONE IS IN OUR HANDS.

He pushed open one more set of doors and immediately saw what he was looking for - a young man with long purple hair was hanging from shackles on the wall to the right. Vincent nodded at the boy, but he was unconscious. Continuing up the staircase, he stopped and kneeled in front of the man sitting in the throne.

The man in the throne smiled at him. In fact, that was all he could do. His mask bore a cosmically unnerving smilie face, body clad in silver and black. He raised his hand to tell Vincent to rise, but Vincent spoke first.

"Sir. Master Maximilian, sir, there is...a problem."

Maximilian said nothing, but sat in silence, prompting Vincent to carry on.

"Sir, it seems...there are more wielders. More people than we thought can harness the power of the keyblade. I met one such person just now, in the square..."

Maximilian spoke one word.

"Darkness?"

Vincent shook his head.

"Then it is of no importance. The only keyblade wielder we need concern ourselves with is the Dark One. Who happens to be right over there."

Maximilian gestured toward the wall which held Riku hostage not a moment before...but now the wall was empty, and there was no sign of Riku or his rescuers anywhere. Maximilian grew furious and summoned his two blades, pinning Vincent with one and holding the other a centimeter from his neck.

"Find him. THIS IS YOUR FAULT. Do not come back without the Dark One."  
"Yes...yes sir." His face cringed every time he said the word. And with that, he turned, flipped his cloak and was heading back down the staircase, kicking heartless like a bully squashes anthills.


	4. Chapter IV: Union and Reunion

CHAPTER IV  
UNION AND REUNION

Riku didn't say anything as he ran after the man in blue robes. The man had told him not to speak, just concentrate on running.

It was very hard for Riku not to speak at this particular moment in time. In the last ten minutes of his life, he had waken up in what looked like a dungeon to stare directly into the face of a small, glowing, yellow fairy. After the fairy broke him out of his shackles, a man in blue robes with a huge blue hat and a beard that almost touched the ground was waiting outside the door for him.

Not exactly a set of events that makes it easy for one to remain silent.

Up ahead, the blue clad wizard kept flicking his wand toward the ever growing heartless. The yellow fairy stayed around Riku, occasionally sprinkling him with some dust...was it his imagination, or was Riku running faster than he ever ran before? He summoned his keyblade and slashed a few heartless that had managed to get close to him.

"No! Put it away, son!" said the blue wizard.  
"Why? You know what? No. Thanks for rescuing me and everything, but I don't need charity." Riku stopped dead in his tracks and the blue wizard and yellow fairy continued on for a few meters before stopping and turning around.

"Please, boy, continue running. We are not in a safe place." The ground shook with a thundaga spell cast by the wizard. "That should buy us a moment. My name is Merlin, and this is my good friend Tinkerbell. We rescued you from the castle and we need to get to my house, or I fear we shall be in grave danger."

Tinkerbell flew around Riku like a planet orbiting the sun. Riku swatted at her like she was a bug, but when Merlin turned his head into a cabbage, Riku decided to stop being so mean and listen.

"Friends. Understand, boy? Friends!"  
"Friends of who? Not me. I don't even know you."  
"You know what, boy? You're right." He turned Riku's head back to normal. "Back to the shackles with you...and my fairy partner and I will be on our way!"

Riku bit his lip. "I'm...sorry. I just have a hard time trusting people. Please. Let's just get out of here."

And they set off running once again. Unfortunately, a ground shattering roar shook them to their knees. The rope bridge not a hundred feet from them didn't snap and break - it charred and crumbled. Like it had been burnt in a flash - like a microwave. The three of them looked back at the castle - it was not a pretty sight. Heartless were pouring from all the windows and doorways, making everything in sight look like black sludge had gotten all over it.

"Man, these are some fun odds. How did you manage to get yourselves into so much trouble?" said a voice none of them readily recognized. From across the chasm jumped a man with spiky blond hair and a sword that made Riku's keyblade look like a butter knife. He brushed his hair from his eyes, which didn't do much good, and unsheathed his sword.  
"Lemme guess - 'who are you?' Well save your breath - my name is Cloud."

Merlin knew of Cloud from Yuffie and Cid's tales back at his house. He ran up to him and embraced him in a full hug. "Oh, Cloud, thank you for coming. Cloud is very strong Riku, he can protect us against anything!"

"Almost anything." Cloud turned away as an image of a man with silver hair blinked into his mind. He shook it off and turned back to the three friends. "But this is no time for reunions. Do you see that?" As he pointed to the top of the castle. A large figure wearing a suit similar to Master Max's was standing on the topmost trellis. He wore another mask, but instead of smiling like Max's, it was flat. The mouth went from one side to another without emotion. His body was larger than Max's, definitely fat...but the way he jumped from the top of the castle and commanded the heartless to march showed that he had great strength.

"Run," said Merlin.  
"But the bridge is out. How are we going to get over the chasm?"

Cloud ran to Merlin, put him on his back and jumped across the chasm to the other side. But before he could return to Riku and bring him across, the ground slid from beneath Riku and he fell to his knees.

"What is going on! Why the hell are there so many earthquakes happening right now? As if we don't have enough to deal with!"  
But his question was answered when he saw a rock rising up in front of him from the chasm. Beneath the top most spiky rock, there were more and more rocks, piles of rocks, some that looked like eyes, some that looked like arms, some that looked like legs. In a flash, they scrambled themselves to reveal the Earth Ripper - a massive heartless.

Cloud quickly jumped at it from his side of the chasm - with a slash the heartless groaned and swung his massive club hand, knocking Cloud into Merlin with a thud. The heartless seemed stronger than Riku had ever seen before...but he realized it was just because it had been a year since he'd last seen combat. He smiled and summoned his keyblade.

"And what are you gonna do with that? Sew him a sweater? You can't jump like I can. You're stuck over there!" cried out Cloud.

As if on cue, Tinkerbell started rapidly spinning around Riku like a tornado. Suddenly, Riku's feet left the ground. He screamed out, but silenced himself.

"Riku, my boy! Tinkerbell can keep you aloft while you dispatch the heartless! Just go for the eyes!" Merlin said as he cast firaga magic to keep the smaller heartless at bay around himself and Cloud.

After a few awkward flips and falls, Riku and Tink flew up toward the Earth Rippers eyes.  
"Left! Left!" Riku yelled as he almost got squashed by the Ripper's fingers. It wasn't until now that he realized how large it actually was. It went all the way down to the bottom of the chasm, where there stood a massive army of heartless. Riku had a plan.  
"DOWN!" He yelled, and Tinkerbell complied, flying straight down and stopping right around the monster's knee. Riku slashed away at it for a few seconds without the monster fighting back - but the screams of pain and groans coming from the rock monster were sign that the plan was working.

"I said the eyes! Blast it! Go for the eyes, boy!"  
"I got a plan, old man...would you let me-" but he didn't get to finish the sentence. Out of the hole he chipped away in the Earth Ripper's knee an eruption of lava spewed, burning Tinkerbell's wing and sending her off course, sending Riku into a free fall to the chasm below.

Without words, Cloud hopped over the firaga spell Merlin was working so hard to maintain and shot down into the chasm after Riku. He streamlined his body with his sword out in front, moving faster than a dolphin through water. Grabbing the scruff of Riku's shirt, he plowed his sword into the Ripper's ankle, hanging from it...no more than fifty feet above the ground.  
He swung Riku up to his level, both hanging from the sword.

"Nice view, isn't it?" Cloud smirked. Riku plunged his keyblade deep into the other ankle of the beast...and the two of them held hands in between the legs and screamed "CHILLING SHATTER!"  
They separated hands and started to run around each ankle, holding the blades and carving deep trenches up and down the legs of the Ripper. As Riku had expected, the lava started to spew in all directions, completely obliterating the heartless below.  
They met up near the monster's crotch and looked below at the lava wreaking its havoc and decided to end it. Cloud dug his sword into the beast's belly and hung from it, holding Riku with the other hand. Riku cast the most powerful blizzard spell he knew down into the legs of the beast, cooling the lava into rock and then freezing it. Unable to support the weight of the monster, the legs shattered, sending it down as Cloud ran up it, still holding Riku with one hand. The now dead Earth Ripper fell on any remaining heartless as Riku and Cloud landed on the other side of the chasm with Merlin and the wounded Tinkerbell.

Merlin had managed to defeat the heartless on this side of the chasm, and all that was left of a threat was the heartless and the Unsmiling Man back near the castle, growing nearer but still quite far away.

Riku was trying to catch his breath. "Th...thanks Cloud. That...that was awesome."

"Yeah. I know. Let's get back to Merlin's house. It won't take very long on Fenrir," and he hopped onto a badass looking motorcycle with gleaming silver and black metal all over it. With Cloud at the helm, Tinkerbell under Merlin's hat in the center and Riku riding on the back, they revved up and made their way back through the battlegrounds and toward the town.


	5. Chapter V: Bad News Gets Worse

CHAPTER V

BAD NEWS GETS WORSE

"It's up ahead. Right around this corner."

"You mean this place was rubble just a few years ago? It looks great!" Kairi commented.

"Yeah, you'll actually get to meet the head of the restoration committee when we get to Merlin's. She's really nice…and…bubbly."

Sora saw a very rare sight – Merlin's door was wide open and nobody seemed to be around. Merlin was protective of all his belongings – magic was sought after by many people who wished to use it for the wrong reasons, and a clever person could take over a small planet with the kinds of things Merlin just had lying around. Plus, Cid didn't take kindly to anyone touching his computer.

"That's strange…" Sora said half to himself, half to Kairi.

"What is? That building?" Kairi inquired back.

"Yeah…well no, I know the building…but it's never wide open like this…"

As Sora and Kairi drew closer to the door, they heard frantic mumbling and shuffling footsteps. As soon as they got in the doorway, they were bowled over by a frantic Cid carrying his staff, followed by Yuffie holding her ninja stars.

"Sora! Great to see ya buddy! But, ain't got time to talk!" Cid yelled over his shoulder, still clenching a piece of wheat in his teeth. He ran up the stairs toward the bailey.

"Hooray! Sora, you came back to see us! Celebrate later!" Yuffie cut to the chase and bounded up the shortcut, meeting Cid at the top and together they barged into the bailey.

"Wonder what's going on? Kairi, maybe you should stay…" but his words were worthless. Kairi was already following Cid and Yuffie, Oathkeeper in hand. "She's more nuts than Riku!" was all Sora said before he ran after his friends and into the bailey. What he saw when he arrived next to Kairi was unnerving.

Leon, clenching his gunsword, looked up from the bailey at Cid, Yuffie, Kairi and Sora. Next to him was a green requiem. Just one.

"Just one heartless and we're running like it's another war? C'mon guys…how rusty did you get while I was gone?" Sora smiled and ran his hand through his hair. Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Not just one heartless. Two," Yuffie said in a very somber tone.

"Two? Where's the other one?" Sora looked around in all directions, but Cid grabbed the top of Sora's head and turned it so that he was looking directly at Leon. "But…that's Leon! He's a good guy!"

"Was. Sora, a lot can happen in a year, buddy. Ya see, Leon got kidnapped by Pete and Maleficent shortly after you defeated Xemnas…Xehanort…whatever…and they turned him into one of them there heartless. Been givin' the whole town a bunch of trouble…but none of us can do anything but hold him off 'till Cloud shows up. He's the only one who can challenge him enough to make him go back to wherever he's hiding. Leon doesn't like giving up…but his directives tell him that whenever he knows he's outmatched to turn and run."

"How do you know all of this, Cid?" asked Kairi.

"Well, Sora told you all about the MCP and the mainframe computer, right? Well, turns out that Maleficent found Ansem's computer and started using it on her own. And since Tron is on our side, he opened up a link to some pretty vital information that we can access at the computer in Merlin's house. It's a heap of help."

The floating green heartless suddenly whizzed past Cid's ear and towards the town. Sora tried to slash at it, but Yuffie held up her star and stopped him.

"We'll explain that later. Don't worry about him. We need to hold off Leon."

Sora grinned. "I can take him! No problem!" Cid tried to stop him as he jumped to the lower levels of the bailey, but it was no use. He just turned to Yuffie, smirked, and followed Sora down.

"So. Is this a coincidence, or did these pathetic fools actually send for your help? You know, you're absolutely no match for me. I've stepped on stronger things than you, Sora." Leon was never really friendly to Sora and his pals. Now he had an excuse.

"Leon, I'm gonna let that one go. I don't wanna hurt you – you're still my friend."

Cid tapped Sora on the shoulder. "Actually, this is Leon's heartless, remember? He's not really Leon until he meets up with his Nobody, or until his heart is freed and his Nobody can reclaim it."

"So…we can just defeat him and go find his Nobody?"

"There's more to it than that. Kingdom Hearts got all screwed up the last time you went there…it no longer takes in hearts like it used to. Now, if a heartless is destroyed, the heart floats in a sort of…limbo. Much harder to find it that way. But, that's why I invented this – the Heart Harvester. Basically, you can attach it to whatever weapon you slay a heartless with…and this baby will hold that heart until you release it…or it finds it's Nobody, whatever comes first."

"Cool." Sora took the smallish purple disk and touched the handle of his keyblade with it. Instantly, it seemed to grab hold of the keyblade with tiny metallic fingers.

"Excuse me if I'm bored with all this talking, but I have important people to turn into Heartless." Leon took off toward Ansem's study, and Cid and Sora ran right after him.

Leon pulled a small whistle out of his pocket and blew it as hard as he could as he turned the corner.

Meanwhile, Yuffie was catching Kairi up on the details of Leon, Cid, herself and Radiant Garden. But the girl talk ended abruptly when a huge black cat rose from a pool of dark energy at the foot of the bailey. The cat was about twice as big as Yuffie and Kairi put together, and it had a hard metal shield protecting its head, in the shape of a giant spade. Its four tails were also metallic, but spiked and gleaming with what looked like black sludge. The paws of the beast made skateboards look like playing cards, and each bore a huge metallic claw. The Pepper Felis raised his head so the metal shield now looked like a hat, and Kairi and Yuffie saw the worst part – the hundreds of metal teeth peppering the heartless' jaw.

"I thought Leon was supposed to run away when he was outmatched?" asked Kairi.

"He did…but I didn't say anything about him not calling any heartless to give us trouble instead…" replied Yuffie, as they bounded down together and attacked the Pepper Felis. Yuffie's stars spun at super speeds, but were blocked by the metal head shield of the beast. "Okay, well, don't go for the head."

Kairi nodded and did a spinning jump over the back of the Felis, slashing at its exposed back with her Oathkeeper. The beast yowled in pain and swung its tails wildly, connecting with Kairi's back, sending her flying into the rock wall. Yuffie sent a diversionary star toward the beasts left side and threw the other one far over it, missing completely.

"Kairi! Baseball!" was all Yuffie could say before the massive paw smacked her backwards onto her backside. Kairi got up and saw the flying star, soaring nearly overhead. She kicked off the wall and with all her might did a powerful backswing, connecting directly to the star, sending it into the beast's fleshy right side. Yuffie had noticed something out of place in the bailey…Scrooge McDuck's skateboard that Sora had left behind! She hopped on and skated right at the beast from the left, and laid back on the board like a bobsled, sliding right beneath the Felis. The Pepper Felis snapped his jaws between his front legs as he attempted to slice Yuffie with his tails through the back legs…but she was too fast. He connected…his tails slashed into his own unprotected face as Yuffie reunited with Kairi on the other side, pulling her star out of the beast on the way.

"Great! Now lets get him while he's vulnerable!" Yuffie slapped Kairi a high five as they ran to opposite sides of the Pepper Felis. Yuffie threw a star into the wall directly behind the cat, and one into the wall in front. Yuffie and Kairi grabbed each others hands and jumped on the cats back, and at their highest bounce screamed "FINAL FLASH!", spinning away from each other toward the stars embedded in the walls. They hooked their feet between the stars and the walls, holding them firmly in place as they both cast powerful magnera spells. Instantaneously, the cat yowled and did an amazing set of involuntary flips as the magnet spells pulled his head one way and his tails another. In a flash of light, he was ripped apart and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Kairi and Yuffie ran to the center of the bailey and gave each other a hearty hive five. Now, to find Leon and make sure Sora and Cid were okay…

That's what would have been the next thing on their list of things to do, if a familiar, fat and gruff figure wasn't now standing in their way.

"Well, well, well. You'se guys are stronger than I thought. Don't matter though…Maleficent's still gonna turn ya both into Heartless!"

Pete's massive belly shook as he laughed, blocking the girls from anyone who could save them.


	6. Chapter VI: Breaking Free

CHAPTER VI

BREAKING FREE

"They're gaining on us. Can't this thing go any faster?" Riku demanded of Cloud.

"Maybe you wanna get off and walk? We're almost at the bailey anyway. After we get through there, we can rest at Merlin's house," Cloud retorted. "Besides...how close can they possibly..." but Cloud clenched his teeth as he turned around and saw how close the army of heartless, led by the Unsmiling Man, had gotten. Riku could reach behind him and almost touch them.

"What? How did they get so close? That's impossible! Fenrir is way faster than that!"

Riku frowned. "Looks like you need a tune up."

Merlin shook excitedly. "That's the bailey! We're almost there! Oh, there's Yuffie! Splendid! Who is that girl she's with?"

Riku swallowed hard. "Kairi. I knew they'd follow me."

As Cloud, Merlin, Tink and Riku stopped in the center of the bailey, they realized why Yuffie and Kairi were standing with their backs to them and not turning around...Pete was on the opposite side of the bailey, blocking their way back to town.

"Kairi...I'm glad you're safe..."

"I'm safe? Yeah, you were the one that was kidnapped, forget? I'm just glad that YOU'RE safe, Riku," Kairi said as she hugged him so hard he almost fell down.

"Where's Sora?"

"He went chasing after Leon with Cid," Kairi said, and noticing the confused look on Riku's face, she added "I'll explain that later."

Suddenly, the green heartless from before zipped back into the bailey, almost knocking Pete off his feet. Pete may have been a leader of the heartless clan...but he was still a clumsy, stupid oaf.

"Ah! Eddy! You're safe!" Merlin cried, as the green heartless flew around his head, almost lovingly.

"Eddy? You named a heartless?" Kairi and Riku yelled.

"I'll explain later. We've got company, friends."

As he spoke, Sora and Cid came running like two dogs with their tails between their legs.

"What's the matter boys? Couldn't handle little old Leon without me?" Cloud taunted them.

"Oh no, it ain't Leon that was givin' us trouble. It was the hundreds of computer generated heartless that he created with Ansem's computer that made us fear for our lives...go figure."

"RIKU! You're okay!" Sora ran to his best friend and they shook hands...leading into a giant hug.

"Thanks for coming after me, Sora."

"Aww...what a touching moment. Ya know, it's gonna make me kinda sad to see all of ya turn into heartless...on second thought, nah. It ain't," Pete laughed again, as a group of neo-shadows spawned behind him. At that moment, the army, led by the Unsmiling Man showed up at the entrance to the bailey on the left, and the computer heartless led by Leon showed up on the right.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Merlin, Tinkerbell, Cloud, Yuffie and Cid stood in a circle, all weapons out facing the threats coming from all sides. In a flash, with no prior planning, the heroes separated and engaged the heartless on all sides. Riku and Sora bounded up the hill toward Pete and the neo-shadows, slicing and stomping the shadows like cockroaches, while Riku beat Pete into a corner.

As Pete's cries echoed in the bailey, Cloud and Merlin dashed toward Leon and the computer heartless. Cloud and Leon's swords clashed in an epic sound, while Merlin used thundaga on the heartless around them.

While the computer heartless were decimated, Kairi, Yuffie and Cid ran toward the Unsmiling man. Cid spun his spear around him, taking out a good number of the heartless, while Yuffie and Kairi engaged the Unsmiling Man, who was wielding two weapons that looked like sais - daggers with lasers coming from the sides. Quite impressive, thought Yuffie.

Meanwhile, Tink and Eddy were flying from scene to scene, healing whoever needed healing the most...it was hard, but they tried to conserve their energy as much as possible. Eventually, Cid yelled out "Got the last one!" as he did a front flip and smashed the final heartless on his side into oblivion. Sora echoed "me too!" as his keyblade soared across the bailey like a boomerang, taking out the final neo-shadow. Merlin smiled as he said "been done for a while, sonny."

The heroes regrouped in the center of the bailey, Pete was rubbing his head, which now had a huge lump on it. The Unsmiling Man seemed stronger than ever, and Leon was trying to catch his breath.

Sora and Riku were panting, and Cid and Yuffie were leaning on each other, trying to stand up. Kairi's arm got bruised by the Unsmiling Man, but besides that she was fine. Merlin's beard was burning at one end...but he stepped out the fire and was left with a small burn mark.

Cloud returned to the center as well, but in a move very unlike him, he said "we need to retreat. It's no use. Even if we can get them weakened further, they'll just call for more heartless."

Merlin nodded, and pulled everyone close. "I've never attempted this with so many people before...but luckily, we're not going far. Hold tight, lads," and with a piercing whistle and a flash of light, the heroes were transported to Merlin's house.

Cid ran to his computer and immediately started pressing keys and slamming disks into every drive he could. He pulled a small laptop from a secret safe behind a poster in the wall, and connected a series of cables as everyone sat down wherever they could. Merlin stood up on his table and waved his wand. The doors and windows slammed shut with what looked like reflega magic, and they knew that they were safe in the house...for now.

"The city is under a massive assault," said Kairi, as she looked through the window. It was true. The heartless were not playing around anymore - crashing through buildings and heading for...

"The town square! Aerith, Hewie, Dewie and Louie! Scrooge! All the merchants! They don't stand a chance against the heartless!" Sora yelled.

"Which is why we've been hiding out in Merlin's hangar while you were out fighting heartless. Don't worry - we've been safe." Aerith came from a door Sora had never seen before, behind the chalkboard. She was followed by the three young ducks, Scrooge and the merchants.

"So, everyone's safe. Cramped, but safe."

"Yes, but we won't be for long," Merlin said, unsmiling. He pointed to the window and nobody saw anything but darkness. The town was completely destroyed, and now the heartless were pounding on Merlin's door.

"Cid, have you got all the computer information you can get from the database?"

"One better, old timer...I'm uploading EVERYTHING, so we can access Ansem's computer from my laptop. Let's jet outta here."

"How? We're surrounded by heartless." Riku pointed out.

"Not the gummi hangar. It's right through here. Merlin led everyone into his secret room, which held a huge gummi ship, shaped like a zeppelin.

"That'll fit all of us easy!" Sora said.

"Yes...but I had to sacrifice the weapon and some of the speed gummi's to make it so large. We need to know exactly where we're going before we set out."

But there wasn't time for that. Leon smashed through the door to Merlin's house with his army, Pete, and the Unsmiling Man behind him.

"No time! On the ship, at once!" Merlin cried, as everyone piled on, Cid led the ship up through the opening metal bay doors and out into space.

"There's one place in the universe that I know can't be taken over by heartless..." Sora mused.

"Yeah, Disney Castle! Of course! The Cornerstone of Light protects it! Unca Donald told us all about it!" yelled Dewey.

"Settin' a course for Disney Castle," Cid's voice echoed through the cabin over the intercom.

Riku, Sora and Merlin sat down with Tink and Eddy flying nearby. Yuffie and Kairi went to the sleeping cabin with the merchants and the ducks to get some rest, while Cloud prepared some food and drink for everyone else.

"So...you called this heartless Eddy?" Sora said as Eddy nudged him in the face with his hat, flying around like a spaz.

"Indeed. You've read the Ansem reports, I surmise? Well, they explain that heartless can be tested on...and while I certainly didn't want to cause as much trouble as Ansem's original study did, I did capture one heartless and manage to train him until he was a friend. Eddy is quite powerful, and though all he can cast is healing magic, he's very valuable in a fight.

"Eddy, nice to meet you. I'm Sora. This is Riku, and our friend that's asleep in the cabin is Kairi."

Eddy squealed and spun around Sora and Riku, signaling the start of an unconventional, but welcome, friendship.


	7. Chapter VII: Unexpected Visitors

CHAPTER VII

UNEXPECTED VISITORS

Sora sipped some tea on the bridge of the gummi zeppelin. How long was this trip taking? In the Falcon Peak, his preferred model of gummi, traveling from Radiant Garden to Disney Castle wouldn't have taken more than a day, but the zeppelin seemed to be taking almost a week. He looked out at the stars, and almost spilled his tea when he noticed what was up ahead.

Disney Castle. In all its glory, he saw the planetoid and excitedly ran through the ship, telling everyone to get ready to disembark.

But as he was in the sleeping chambers, waking up Scrooge McDuck with some minor difficulty (a few whacks to the head with a cane), the ship rocked with a shudder that could only mean bad news.

"Sora, what's going on up there?" yelled Cid, up the ladder to the bridge. But Sora responded from behind him.

"I don't know! I was waking everyone up…"

"Sora! You're on lookout! The ship is on auto pilot and all you had to do was watch for any enemies!" Cid was furious. Instead of yelling at Sora, which he really wanted to do, he ran up the ladder to the bridge and turned on the intercom.

"Attention all crew of the Red Zeppelin, we are under attack from six unidentified ships. Repeat, unidentified ships are…wait a sec…these ships have heartless insignias on them! They're heartless ships, repeat, heartless ships. All crew, meet in the main hangar for defensive tactics, immediately!" The line went to static, and that meant Cid was already on his way to the hangar.

The ducks and merchants stayed in the sleeping cabin on Aerith's request. No sense in shaking up the whole ship. But Aerith, Yuffie, Cloud, Riku, Kairi, Sora and Merlin were in the hangar moments before Cid.

"Okay, listen up and listen good, ya'll. These things are pretty big, but they got no shields. I wasn't able to run a diagnostic on their weapons…if I had a little notice I might have…" Cid trailed off as he pulled huge white sheets off of big hulking masses in the gummi hangar.

Sora hung his head in shame.

"Now, these are Gummi Mechs. Kinda like Teeny ships. I been tinkerin' with 'em for a while, so for pete's sake don't get 'em blown up! They respond to almost every movement a person can make…except for some of the silly ones."

"So basically…just fight like we're on land?" asked Riku.

"Yep. Only…there's no gravity or anything…so it'll take some getting used to. But I only got three of em, so who's gonna go out? Make it snappy, we're taking heavy damage. I gotta head back up to the bridge, Aerith, you're my co-pilot. We can't take much more fire, so move it, boys and girls!" Cid and Aerith ran through the sliding door and up the stairs.

"Well, I'm going." Cloud said arrogantly, as he approached the black mech. It was about three times his height and had yellow markings all over it.

"Heh. Me too." Riku said, already climbing into his mech. His was blue with orange marks.

"I'll go too," said Sora. But as he looked up at the remaining red and silver mech, he saw it wave down at him…just like Kairi.

The booming voice of the mech said "See ya later, procrastinator!" as the three mechs flew out the bay roof and into space.

Sora stood dumbfounded in the center of the bay, while Merlin cracked a smile on one side of him and Yuffie outright laughed on the other.

"All right, all right. Cut it out," he said, as he stamped off toward the bridge to see if he could help Cid.

"Ya know, Merlin, some day he'll realize that she's every bit as strong as him." Yuffie said, still smiling.

"Yuffie, my dear, if I could cast a spell to make him realize, I would. But he's got to do it on his own."

Meanwhile, in the cold recesses of space orbiting the Disney Castle, the black and yellow mech piloted by Cloud was doing some serious damage on two of the silver heartless ships. Cloud was having a hard time not having a sword at his disposal…so the first thing he did when he ripped the wing off the first ship was bend it into an appropriate sword.

"Much better," boomed the mechanical voice, as Cloud slashed clear through the second heartless ship.

Kairi wasn't doing too badly herself. She managed to kick off of one heartless, go into a rapid spin and drill through two of the others. She was also the first to discover the repeating blasters located in the wrists of her ship…the heartless on the opposite end of that wasn't too pleased…

Riku did more damage to himself than any heartless ship. He couldn't figure out how to let go and let the ship work with him, so he spent a good deal of time spinning and knocking into asteroids until Cloud and Kairi towed him back into the hangar.

Cloud and Kairi jumped down from their mechs and nodded at each other, smiling. Riku jumped down from the mech and brushed the hair out of his face. He wasn't smiling. "Can it, you two. I just got a little…confused…in there…"

"Wait, Cloud, when you're confused, do you do this?" Kairi said, as she proceeded to spin around the room, acting drunk, until she fell into Riku's arms.

"Very funny, Kairi." He smiled and pushed her away. "Now let's go see King Mickey and the others!"

The three new pilots ran into the cabin to find everyone but Cid relaxing.

"Cid said he can have us landed in Disney Castle in no time. You guys were great out there! I watched the whole thing!" Aerith gushed.

"Yeah, you really kicked butt out there, Kairi," Sora smiled. Kairi blushed and gave him a hug. "And Riku! What was that? Some kind of interpretive dance?" They all had a good laugh as Cid's voice rang through the intercom.

"Now disembarking, Disney Castle. Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle until we have come to a full and complete stop. Thanks for riding Red Zeppelin!"


	8. Chapter VIII: Acquaintences, Old and New

CHAPTER VIII

ACQUAINTENCES, OLD AND NEW

The ship clicked and whirred as it finally stopped in the main hangar in Disney Castle. Sora was the first one off the ship, running like a boy on Christmas morning. The first two friends he saw were Chip and Dale, working on ships in the hangar.

"Sora!" chirped Chip.

"Good to see you, pal!" squealed Dale.

They ran up his legs and hugged his head.

"Hey guys, how's everything? Is the King around?"

"Of course, everybody's actually in the main audience chamber…they're giving awards to Donald, Goofy and King Mickey for the service they provided in defeating Organization XIII!" said Dale.

Sora smiled wider than he had all day. "Good. They deserve them." He patted the chipmunks on the head as he ran off toward the main audience chamber with all his friends from Radiant Garden at his heels. Kairi and Riku were keeping up with him as he pushed open the door to the audience chamber.

There he was. It was the first time Sora had actually seen King Mickey seated in his throne, with Minnie by his side. Pluto pranced around the room, as Jiminy Cricket sat on his back, holding a small pad. Donald, wearing bright new mage robes, was walking up towards King Mickey. Next to him was Goofy, who was wearing a suit of leather similar to his previous outfit, except it was outfitted with metal pieces in some parts that made him look rather like a knight.

He knew it was an important ceremony, but he couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Goofy! Donald! King Mickey!" he blurted out, covering his mouth. But he held out his arms and before he knew it, they were wrapped around the duck, the dog and the mouse.

"Sora! Boy, it's been a while!" Goofy positively beamed with delight.

"It's an amazing coincidence that you're here, Sora," said Mickey. "We were having a ceremony to honor the heroes that defeated Organization XIII, and we just so happen to have three pendants with the names Sora, Riku and Kairi on them."

The friends all gathered in the audience chamber. Riku, Kairi and Sora put on their Hero Pendants, which seemed to increase their strength, and had a great time talking to all of their friends. It took almost a full hour until the unsettling truth dawned on them in the form of Aerith.

"I really don't want to be a stick in the mud…but we're not here on a pleasure trip. Radiant Garden has been overrun and nearly destroyed by heartless."

As she went on to explain about Pete, the Unsmiling Man and Leon, the residents of Disney Castle grew more and more shocked. When she finally finished, King Mickey stood up.

"I hereby welcome all residents of Radiant Garden to live in Disney Castle and continue their daily lives just as they left off. Any service that my court can be of to you, you have at your disposal," and Mickey snapped his fingers, signaling hundreds of bewitched mops and brooms to the center of the chamber. The merchants squealed with glee as they, Scrooge and his nephews headed off into the courtyard to begin construction.

"King Mickey, is the cornerstone of light safe?" Sora asked.

"Of course. Donald has even grown so powerful that he was able to put a shield of permanent reflega magic on it, so that it can't be touched."

"Good. Just want to make sure that we never have to deal with another unexpected invasion."

Sora, King Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy headed out to the courtyard. It was an amazing sight – in less than a few hours, it looked better than Radiant Garden, thanks to the help of the magical brooms and mops.

Yuffie waved cheerily at them as they came into view. "I guess I gotta get working on some new official restoration committee badges…these brooms and mops did almost everything for us! Thanks, King Mickey!"

There were accessory shops and food stalls, synthesis workshops and armor stores. Hewie even opened up a weapon shop, where Donald purchased a Soul Catcher Wand and Goofy got himself a Bounce Shield. Sora stocked up on potions and ethers, as Kairi talked to the cute creature she met before.

"You're cute!" she said.

It mumbled something in cheery, but completely foreign gibberish.

"Well…I just wanted you to know that you're cute…that's it, I guess…" but the Moogle pointed at her purse, from which she pulled three small glassine stones. The Moogle threw them into a small furnace.

"Hey!" Kairi protested. But the Moogle then pulled out a shiny, sparkling gold bangle. Kairi slipped it onto her ankle and smiled, kissing the Moogle on his cheek. Even if it was an alien…the Moogle still blushed.

Aerith, Cloud, Yuffie, Merlin, Cid, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey sat at the main table in the new Disney square for dinner that evening. It was agreed that everyone could now call Disney Castle 'home'. They clinked their glasses, made a toast and retired to their new chambers within the castle. Sora and Riku, on the other hand, grew restless that night and decided to go check out the cornerstone of light.

The door that led to the Timeless River was still there, as was the beautiful green stone. But as Sora tested the reflega magic by slamming his keyblade into it – pretty sturdy, he discovered – he heard a 'wak' from the door behind him.

"Sora! What are you doing out this late! You should be resting!" Donald yelled and ran up to the boys. Goofy followed behind him, sleep in his eyes.

"Gawrsh, you could get in trouble. Being down here so late at night…Minnie and Daisy would be pretty mad if anything happened to ya…" Goofy said sleepily.

"Relax, guys. It's just me and Riku."

"Yeah. Just checking things out. I mean, if this is gonna be 'home' for a while…" Riku said, trailing off.

The four friends heard some frantic slamming. From where? The main door was too far away to make such a loud noise. The pounding of footsteps got louder, and they heard a funny little voice screaming at the top of its lungs.

"Ahhh! Ya gotta help, ya gotta! Is there anyone in this door?" screamed the voice. Suddenly, the door to the Timeless River popped open, revealing the source of the voice.

A small, green monster, no more than three feet tall, stood, panting in the doorway. He had one large, bulbous eye and thin, spindly legs and arms. Behind him wasn't Timeless River, though…it was a room that looked like it belonged in a factory. Hundreds of other doors peppered the wall behind him. The little creature breathed a sigh of relief.

"Please, ya gotta help me! There's some crazy things happenin' over here, and I don't know what's goin' on! I'm just glad to find some humans who aren't scared of me! Jeez, you wouldn't believe what irony that is."

The four friends looked at each other, perplexed.

"Look, I'll explain everything later, but please…if you can help when it comes to fighting big scary black things with twitchy antennas and ones that MELT into the GROUND, we could really use your help!" said the monster.

"Heartless?" asked Goofy.

"Sounds like it…" said Riku.

"That's right up our alley!" yelled Sora, excitedly.

"Oh good, great, ya know, I'm not so much interested in what they're called, so long as they stop eating my friends! Please!" cried the monster.

"Calm down, we'll help you." Donald said.

"Good. Calm isn't exactly what I do," said the monster, who took a deep breath. "My name is Mike. Follow me!"

He led the way through the door, as Sora, Riku, Donald and Goofy followed him into the Scream Factory.


	9. Chapter IX: Scream Factory Nightmares

CHAPTER IX

SCREAM FACTORY NIGHTMARES

Mike ran at a full tilt down the main corridors connecting to the factory. It was an amazing sight – a huge screen with pictures of assorted monsters, and what seemed to be a large scoreboard. Next to that was a map of some planet none of them recognized…

"Where are we?" Donald demanded, trying to keep up with the little green man.

"Yeah, this ain't Timeless River…" Goofy added.

"Ya see, this is Monstropolis," said Mike over his shoulder. "We power our city through the energy of screams. This is the scream factory, and we can access any door in the universe simply by putting the copy in these machines and stepping through."

"Why would you want to access any door in the universe?" Sora asked.

"I'm getting to that. Mostly we keep closets on file…but we have a few special ones like the door that led me to your castle. After we go through the door, we scare whatever little kid is inside and use the screams for energy," Mike replied.

"Sounds kind of…mean…" Riku trailed off, keeping up with Mike as they rounded a corner into what looked like a reception area.

"Oh, yeah, let's take morality lessons from the species that eats pretty much anything lower than it," Mike rolled his eye. "C'mon, the troubles out on the street! We're almost there!"

Mike stopped at the large double doors leading into the factory and pushed them open, to reveal a huge city full of colorful buildings and even more colorful monsters. But most of the monsters were running from the scene in the center of the street – about fifty neo-shadows and fifty large bodies were bouncing around the street, causing much mayhem.

The worst part of the scene, though, had to be the ominous figure standing in the center of the street, directing heartless all around him. He was tall and spindly, wearing a silver and black suit and a mask. The mask bore a frown…deep, dark eyes…and Sora knew that he was in league with The Unsmiling Man and the Masked Man from the Destiny Islands.

He turned and saw the five friends coming from the building and raised both his hands. At that moment, every heartless in town stopped, turned on their heels and proceeded to run directly at Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Mike.

"Whoa! I hope you guys know what you're doin'!" screamed Mike as he hid behind Riku's legs.

"Hmph. For a monster, you sure scare easily…" Riku and Sora extended their hands to call forth their keyblades…but only Sora's came. Riku dropped to his knees and cried out in pain.

"Ah! I can't summon my keyblade again! Just like on the Islands…I don't know what it is…" Riku said, pounding his fists on the ground.

"It must be those guys with the masks…" Sora decided. "Just stay back, Riku. Donald, Goofy and I can take care of these guys."

"You know, just in case you cant…I should know who at least tried to save my butt," Mike said, quietly.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy and Riku."

"Thanks, guys. Great to meet you. Now attack!" Mike pointed at the heartless like a general during war.

But that was easier said than done. The large bodies kept reflecting attacks, while the neo-shadows melted and spawned behind them. It was a lethal combination that left the three heroes outmatched.

Mike bit his lip. "I'm gonna regret this…" he said, as he ran into the fray to help the three friends. He was brandishing two small nunchakus, spinning them around himself and almost taking out his eye several times. When he made it to the center, where Sora, Donald and Goofy were panting, having nearly taken out half of the threat, he stood back to back with Sora.

"I hope there's a plan b…" Mike said nervously.

Then, out from an alley next to the scream factory, came a loud crash and the sound of a cart being pushed at a rapid speed. The friends looked to the sound to see a huge blue and purple monster with shaggy fur running at them at full speed. He was snarling and pushing a cart full of yellow canisters. He had two small yellow horns and teeth that could rip through metal.

"Is this guy on our side?" said Donald.

"Sully! You bet he is!" Mike cheered and pumped his fists in the air. "Sora, just follow my lead, okay?"

Sora nodded. Goofy and Donald flattened themselves out on the ground, protected under Goofy's Bounce Shield.

Sully stopped the cart about one-hundred feet away. "Ready, Mike?" he yelled.

"Ready! Sora, start spinning with that funky sword!"

Sora went into a rapid spin, like a top, while Sully threw the yellow canisters toward Mike.

Sora and Mike unleashed a powerful limit attack, and they screamed "PLAN B!" as the canisters flew overhead, Mike rapidly knocked the locks off of them with his nunchakus and sent them into Sora's spin, sending them into all directions of the crowd of heartless. Piercing shrieks and screams filled the city, as the heartless seemed stunned and in pain as they got hit with the shockwaves.

As soon as all the canisters were gone, Sully signaled Mike with a thumbs up and Sora, Mike and Sully yelled "SCREAMING SMASH!"

Mike held his nunchaku into the vortex formerly known as Sora, got picked up and spun around rapidly as Sully ran around the outside in the opposite direction. Mike let go and flew like a boomerang, smashing heartless while Sully rammed them from behind. As Sora stopped spinning and regained his balance, the last of the heartless were wiped out by Mike and Sully.

Mike started doing a victory dance, but Sully tapped him on the shoulder and he looked where Sora, Riku, Donald and Goofy already were looking. The Frowning Man walked up to them with a familiar sway in his step, and cackled.

"What do you want?" Sora said intensely.

The Frowning Man pointed at Sully.

"Strong. He'll make an excellent heartless. Master Maximilian will be pleased."

"One of them? No way, pal. I ain't going nowhere," Sully growled.

"You know, I think your attitude will change when I show you that I have the upper hand," he said as he snapped his fingers. A neo-shadow rose from the ground, clutching a little purple monster with googly eyes and a big mouth…something looked odd about it…

"Boo!" Sully said.

"Gawrsh, it's gonna take more than that to scare 'em away!" Goofy said.

"No, Boo! The little girl! Put her down!" Sully snarled.

At that point, the little monster opened his mouth to reveal…a girl. It was a little girl with black ponytails inside the monster costume, and she reached out, making sounds that nobody could understand.

"Give her to me," Sully said.

"On one condition…you come with us to become a heartless slave," the Frowning Man bartered.

"Fine. I'll do whatever you want."

"Are you nuts? Sully, you can't go with them! They're gonna turn you into one of those…those things! C'mon, pal, let's just fight him for her!" Mike yelled, putting up his fists.

"And risk hurting Boo? No," Sully said calmly, as he walked straight up to the neo-shadow, took Boo and handed her to Mike. Immediately after his hand was off the little girl, the neo-shadow seemed to melt around Sully, sucking him down into a black hole.

Echoing in the streets, they heard Sully yell out "Don't worry, I'll fight my way out!"

"I wouldn't count on that, street-rats," said the Frowning Man, as he vanished off into a black portal that had opened up behind him.


	10. Chapter X: Friendly Foes

CHAPTER X

FRIENDLY FOES

"Kitty!" Boo cried out. Tears began to well in her eyes.

"No, kid, he's gonna be fine! Don't cry! Please don't cry…" Mike put his hand over her mouth to keep her from crying, but all that did was make her cry louder.

"Guys, if we can't keep this kid quiet, we're gonna have a big problem on our hands!" Mike whispered to Donald, Goofy, Sora and Riku.

"Whaddya mean?" Goofy asked.

"Look – Monstropolis is otherwise referred to as "The Hidden City", as in hidden from humans. As in, if a human SOCK makes its way into the city, the cleanup crew blows it up…so imagine what would happen if they found out about Boo here! I don't really wanna think about it myself…but it wouldn't be pretty, I can tell ya that much."

"So…we need to get Boo back to her room? That should be easy with that door system you guys have…" Sora thought.

"If you only knew, kid. Let's at least get to the factory…we can-" Mike got cut off by a siren honk and flashing red lights.

"2319! 2319! A human intruder! This is not a drill!" yelled a voice.

"Great…RUN!" Mike screamed, as several beings of all shapes and sizes lapelled down ropes into the center of town. They wore yellow decontamination suits and had several scary looking devices that made Boo wail even louder than before.

"You can cry louder? How is that possible!" Mike screamed, as he led Goofy, Donald, Riku and Sora back into the scream factory, carrying Boo in his arms.

The men in yellow suits were gaining on them, throwing nets and metal domes toward them in hopes of catching the intruder. But Sora and Riku kept slicing through the nets and deflecting the domes as they ran around more corridors than they could count. Suddenly, they all stopped running.

"What's going on, Mike?" Riku said nervously, facing the men in yellow suits.

"Heh, ya know, I don't exactly know my way around this floor as well as I used to…"

Mike said as he put Boo down on the ground. "I guess they haven't put a door here yet…"

"Dead end? You led us into a dead end?" Donald quacked.

"Sorry, featherbrain, I didn't do it on purpose! Jeez, gimme a break…we got bigger problems!" said Mike, pointing at the men in yellow suits, slowly walking toward the six of them.

Sora and Riku called forth their keyblades.

"Glad to see it worked this time…" Sora said to Riku.

"Ya know? Me too," Riku smirked as he dove at the first of the seemingly endless men in yellow suits, knocking him back into the others.

Boo peeked out at the fight from behind Goofy's legs.

"Don't worry, little girly…Sora and Riku will protect you!" he smiled, but Boo still looked worried.

"Kitty?" she said.

Mike walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Not yet, Boo…we'll find him soon."

She smiled for the first time that night. But the smile was short lived as Sora flew by, knocked back by the army of men in yellow suits. Boo was caught off guard and screamed, sending a power surge through the corridor and exploding all of the lights.

"Perfect! Boo, you're a life saver! Quick guys, this way!" and he grabbed Boo up, led the friends back through the pitch back corridor right past the decontamination crew and into a well lit hallway.

"We're only a few halls from the main factory floor! All I gotta do is find Boo's door and we can drop her off! Sully was working on it just today…so the door should still be around somewhere…" Mike trailed off, taking a left through yet another corridor.

"Sir, I hear them down this hallway!" echoed down the corridor and into the friends' ears. It was one of the de-con crew members.

"Great, they caught up!" Riku said sourly.

Suddenly, a door a few paces ahead slammed open, revealing a large, grey, ugly monster. He had bulging eyes and many pointy legs, like some kind of grotesque, overgrown spider. Even given this appearance, he wore a very professional business suit and tie, and spoke like a true gentleman. Everyone but Mike stopped in their tracks, and Mike tried to hide Boo behind his back. But the monster had already seen her. All he did was smile.

"Mr. Waternoose, sir, I…I can explain!" Mike stammered.

"You know this guy?" Sora asked over Mike's shoulder.

"He's the boss…" Mike gulped.

"So formal! Henry J. Waternoose, lads. Quickly, in here," the monster hurried them all into the room.

Mr. Waternoose closed the door and smiled warmly at the friends. "Now, don't you worry, Mr. Wazowski. I understand the situation with the girl. Everything is going to be fine – she won't be harmed by the de-con crew and you most certainly won't be fired."

Sora and his friends chuckled. "Mr. Wazowski?"

"Mike! Call me Mike!" he yelled, though he breathed an audible sigh of relief, putting Boo down on the floor.

The room was small, dim and dank. It had very few amenities – there was the door to the hallway through which they came, but inside standing alone was another door that didn't seem to be connected to anything. It had a huge red light on the top of it, which wasn't glowing at this particular moment. A few posters around the room depicted terrifying monsters, which made Boo visibly shiver. Across from the standalone door in the center of the room was a large white sheet, obviously covering something. Donald put his arm around Boo, trying to keep her comfortable.

Mr. Waternoose, meanwhile, had his ear up to the door and was whispering something to himself. As the final footsteps of the de-con crew faded away from the hallway, he stepped back and smiled at everyone. "They've given up. The little girl is safe. Hand her to me."

"Well, with all due respect, sir, shouldn't we just bring her to the factory floor and put her back in her room?" Mike asked.

"Ah, Mr. Wazowski. How unfortunate that you should be attached to this particular human," Mr. Waternoose said, pulling the sheet from the object in the center of the room. What he revealed made them all gasp – a kind of torture device, with hand and leg clamps – designed to fit the human body. "It's my duty to run this company, boy. And how inefficient that we have to devote hundreds of workers and hundreds of hours to the old door system…my, we barely have enough scream energy to power our factory and the surrounding city! How terribly inefficient…"

He paced around the room, pointy legs clicking on the metal floor every step.

Mike swallowed hard. "So…what do you propose we do to…boost efficiency?" He knew he wasn't going to like the answer as he gripped Boo's arm tightly.

"Well, Mr. Wazowski…we are going to simply put the children into these machines and scare all of the screams out of them right here in Monstropolis!" he smiled deviously. "No fuss, no muss. No travel, no risk of 2319's, and best of all, no wasted energy! All the energy we make will be 100 efficient!"

"But you can't just STEAL children! That's terrible!" Sora yelled.

"Yeah…what about their families? Their friends? Their lives?" Riku demanded.

"I'm not going to steal all of the children, just some! Don't make me out to be some sort of…monster. The parents can always make new children! Who in the world will miss this one child?" Mr. Waternoose asked.

Boo's eyes started streaming with tears. "Kitty," she said softly.

Mike picked her up. "Don't worry, Boo. You'll see Kitty again. We're getting outta here, Waternoose, don't even try to stop us. I'm going to tell Roz and Celia and everyone else in the factory about your plan, and you'll be canned for good!"

The six friends quickly went for the door…but as they approached, the door started to…shift. It looked as if it were made of jelly. It turned purple before the friends started to back away. The shape changed, and soon they realized that it wasn't the door at all changing – it was what was in front of it. A nasal cackle came from the tall, purple monster standing in front of the door. He had a broad grin, filled with tiny, sharp teeth. The monster had a snakelike body and the head similar to a lizard's. It was definitely the definition of 'monster'.

Boo saw the creature and clung to Mike, screaming louder than she had all day. The few lights keeping the room lit exploded and the red bulb on the door in the center of the room glowed brightly.

"We only got one chance to save our butts! Move it through that door!" Mike yelled, pushing Sora, Donald, Riku and Goofy toward the door as Boo clung to his head.

"Randall, stop them at once!" cried out Mr. Waternoose in the dark. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a match – when he struck it, the small glow showed him that he was the only one left in the room.


	11. Chapter XI: Down and Out

CHAPTER XI

DOWN AND OUT

Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Mike, still clutching Boo, came out of a door in the middle of a snow covered mountain. Nothing to the left of them but snow covered dunes. To the right, the same. Stretching out in front of them was miles and miles of untouched snow. Mike tried the door with the red light over it…but it was no use. There was no power to the door, and when he opened it, he could just see through the doorway to the other side of the mountain.

And behind them, masked with his chameleon skills, was Randall Boggs - the meanest monster in Monstropolis.

Boo shivered and frowned. She didn't cry, but it was clear she was uncomfortable. Donald cast a small firaga attack in the snow, which lit a small fire after it melted through the snow to the sticks and grass beneath it.

"It won't stay lit for long. We've gotta get outta here," Riku said to Sora.

All Sora did was nod. He was about to agree with Riku, but suddenly a voice came out of the snow from behind them.

"You little punks think you're so smart. I've got news for you; Randall is the king of Monstropolis. Don't forget it!"

Without warning, Sora's feet came out from beneath him for no reason. Mike got poked in the eye while Goofy and Donald's hats got knocked off by snowballs.

"What's going on?" Sora managed to mumble, as a snowball hit him square in the mouth.

"It's gotta be that camouflaging monster from before…he must have followed us," Riku said.

The sound of one set of hands clapping rang through the mountain. "Very good, you know…you guys might not be as dumb as I thought." Randall turned from his invisible white to yellow and then to blue…as he completely turned purple he smiled as he kept scurrying around Sora, Donald, Riku, Mike and Goofy, as Boo sat between them, staying close to the fire.

"Now, if you were really smart, you'd give the girl to me now and save yourselves a butt-kicking."

"By my count, there's five butts here against four feet…Randall, you're outmatched, pal," Mike taunted.

"Hmm. When you're right, you're right." Randall smiled widely as he snapped his fingers. He then put his hand to his mouth and called out a name that the friends hadn't heard in ages.

"Oh, Jafar! Time for reinforcements!" Randall yelled, deviously.

"Jafar?" they cried, looked at each other, eyes wide.

The six friends panicked. The mountain started to shake and tremble as if an avalanche was heading their way…but it was far worse. At least one-hundred living bone heartless and another two-hundred rapid thrusters were charging down at them from atop the hill. The little annoying yellow heartless that looked like beaks wouldn't have been a problem, had they not been accompanied by the ones that were as big as rhino fossils. Together, they could trample the heroes.

The friends turned to run down the hill, but saw a familiar black portal opening up right next to Randall. Out of it came the Frowning Man from the city streets they had met earlier that day. Instead of charging straight at the friends, he ran toward Randall and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him a foot off the ground.

"Insolent fool! We were given code names for a reason! I trust you with my identity and you hand it over to the street-rats?" Jafar screamed.

Randall looked at Jafar with hate in his eyes. "I wish I had a mask to hide behind. Then I'd get other people to do my dirty work for me, too."

Jafar hissed, threw Randall into the portal and turned to see the friends.

"Ah…even better than I had planned. The Dark One. Time to kill five birds with one stone…" Jafar mused, as he pulled off his mask. Even though they knew it was him from the sound of his voice, it didn't truly affect them until they saw his large nose, crooked smile and wispy moustache poke out from beneath the mask. The mask shimmered in the snow and then vanished, as if no longer necessary.

"Yes, yes. I won't be needing that any longer. The Dark One knows my identity…but he won't be able to tell anyone but the dungeon walls," Jafar said, summoning a large golden staff. The staff had a snake's head on top and a sharp scimitar-like sword digging into the snow.

At that point, the friends turned to see how close the heartless army had gotten. It was impossible – the rapid thrusters were already overhead! Behind them by only a few hundred feet charged the living bones…as Jafar's cackles rang into the mountain, the friends knew that they were in deep trouble.


	12. Chapter XII: Improvise!

CHAPTER XII

IMPROVISE!

Riku made a mad dash towards Boo, scooping her up and running for the side of the mountain.

'Good', thought Sora. 'He can't summon his keyblade with Jafar around anyway.'

Sora reached out his arm and brought his keyblade into his hand. Seconds later, the fire Donald had started had sizzled out.

"What's this?" asked Mike, staring into the ashes of the fire. Down in the hole the fire melted in the snow sat a strange looking key chain with one green eye dangling from it.

"It's a key chain! Sora, you think it'll power up your keyblade?" Goofy asked, as he picked it up and handed it to Sora.

"I hope so." Sora attached it to the keyblade – instantly, the Kingdom Key started to morph into a longer keyblade. At the hilt there were green slime patterns and one bulbous eye. The blade was long and yellow, and had an interesting industrial feel to it. The purple disk called the Heart Harvester was still there, and Sora could feel his agility rise and he knew this keyblade came with it's own bag of tricks.

"Let's go for a test drive!" Sora bellowed, diving at Jafar. He quickly pulled his staff from the ground, flipping it so that the scimitar and the One-Eye keyblade connected in a shattering clash of light. Meanwhile, Donald, Goofy and Mike stood with their backs to Sora and Jafar, fighting off the rapid thrusters as the living bones started to close in on them. The stampede wasn't far off now, and they were making the ground shake so much that it was hard to any of them to keep their balance.

Sora did a back flip to get away from Jafar. Both times he had defeated Jafar, he had been in his genie form. But Jafar wasn't turning into a genie anymore. In fact, he didn't even look like he could. Something looked…less powerful about him, though his sword fighting abilities were still top notch. Jafar twirled his staff above his head, momentarily making Sora dizzy. He swung down with the snake's head and barely missed as Sora dove through his legs, starting a huge combo on Jafar's backside, juggling him in the air.

Jafar did an aerial recovery, flipped himself over and pointed the snake at Sora. At that moment, the eyes of the snake glowed, and Sora felt faint…tired…almost tired enough to quit…

'No!' he screamed in his head. He did a spinning scissor kick, grabbing Jafar around the ankles and plowing him into the ground. Jafar was getting tired now, he could feel it. Sora yelled "thunder!" as two lighting bolts came down, stunning Jafar for a moment. Jafar shook it off and raised his hands, holding the staff over his head like a battle axe. With a mighty swing, he sent six streaming jets of fire from the snake head toward Sora. But Sora slammed his keyblade into the air and yelled "shield!", casting powerful reflega magic on himself.

There were too many. Goofy got knocked into Mike, sending them both beneath a pile of snow, leaving Donald to fight the rapid thrusters alone. He managed to cast a strong magnet spell, but all it did was wipe out the remaining rapid thrusters. The living bones were far too heavy to be affected by magnet.

And suddenly, there came a sound from a few hundred feet away – Riku's voice.

"Riku! Get back! You can't summon your keyblade!" yelled Donald, but to no avail – he could see Riku gradually getting closer. Meanwhile, Goofy and Mike were hiding under Goofy's bounce shield, hoping not to get trampled.

Sora knocked Jafar into a snow bank, creating a pretty odd take on the average snow angel. Jafar climbed out and brushed the snow from his silver and black suit.

"Street-rats like you know all about living to fight another day, don't you boy?" Jafar sneered, conjuring a black portal in the snow.

"The only rat I see here is you, Jafar. Stay and fight like a man!" Sora yelled.

Jafar laughed.

"I see you're confused as to how I fight, boy. I fight until I lose the upper hand. To do anything more would be foolish. Bravery is in the same league as stupidity, urchin." With that, Jafar hopped through the portal, closing it and leaving Sora, Goofy, Mike, Riku, Boo and Donald to fight the living bone stampede.

The living bone heartless were only seconds away at this point. Sora reconvened with Donald, Goofy and Mike in the center of the mountain.

"How are you guys doing?" Sora looked up at the stampede and his eyes widened. "Sorry I asked."

Donald was pointing up the mountain as Goofy and Mike came out from beneath the shield. Mike sheepishly looked at Sora.

"Sorry! I didn't feel like getting squished today, thanks very much!" he said.

"What are you pointing at, Donald?" Sora asked.

"Riku!" he quacked.

It was true. Riku was closing in on them as fast as the living bones…but how? Several of the living bones separated so they didn't smash into the doorway that sat in the center of the snow…and then Sora and the others saw it – Riku, actually riding atop a living bone, with Boo in the front seat, smiling like it was an amusement park ride!

"Not very smart, are they?" Riku yelled. He wasn't lying – the living bone didn't even notice Riku and Boo sitting on his back. Riku grabbed onto the heartless' horn with one hand and finally called forth his keyblade with the other. He started swinging around him, taking out several others with the inertia he gained from riding on top of the stampeding beast. "Let's even the odds, eh fellas?"

Sora ran toward the closest living bone and pole vaulted over it using his keyblade, landing awkwardly on it's back. Goofy picked up Donald and Mike, tossed them onto his bounce shield and they soared over head, landing on two of their own. Unfortunately for Mike, he landed backwards and spent a good deal of his time trying to stay on board. Goofy flipped his shield and used it like a pogo stick, landing on yet another.

The friends had an impromptu rodeo on the mountain, destroying heartless left and right. Sora enjoyed running his straight into rocks and then jumping off as they destroyed themselves; Goofy had a great time playing matador with them with his shield, causing two heartless to smash into each other on more than one occasion. Mike finally gained his balance and stuck his tongue out at the heartless behind him, as Donald cast gravity on several others, driving them down into the snow. Riku enjoyed the old fashioned approach – he just jousted them in straight lines as he plowed by. Boo was giggling at this point, clapping her hands every time another heartless was defeated. Soon, all that was left was one heartless that faced against the six friends.

The little girl giggled and looked up at the creature; "Boo!" was all she said to make the heartless turn tail and run.

"Wow! Did you see that! We really took it to 'em! Boy oh boy, they didn't know what we had up our sleeves, and bam!" Mike animatedly jumped around, adrenaline pumping. He crashed into a snow bank, sending a pile of fluffy snow down on him, causing him to look like a tiny, bouncing snow man. Boo squealed with delight as something interesting happened…

The red light on the door glowed brightly. Brighter than it glowed back in the factory.

"What's it mean?" Goofy said.

"Well…that's the power light. That's weird though, nobody's screaming and there's no plugs or anything out here…" Mike tried to explain to everyone.

The light stopped glowing.

"Oh great! We had a chance to go back, and you wasted it talking!" Donald said, irritated. He smacked Mike on the head with his staff, causing Mike to bellow "yeowch!" and fall over. Boo laughed again, and the light glowed brightly once again.

This time, Riku grabbed the door while the light was still on, ripped it open and revealed the torture chamber in the factory. One by one they ran through the door, until they all had made it back to the Hidden City safe and sound.


	13. Chapter XIII: Almost To The Door

CHAPTER XIII

ALMOST TO THE DOOR

The friends were glad to see that Mr. Waternoose had left the chamber alone, so they used the free moment to catch their breath.

"I…I don't get it! I don't know where the power came from to start up the door! It doesn't make sense…" Mike said, as he smacked himself in the head over and over. Boo laughed really hard this time, as they heard a shattering sound in the hallway. Riku peeked through the door, and sure enough, all the lights in the hallway had overloaded and burst.

"Laughter! It's Boo's laughter that's doing it! It's really powerful, too! Way more powerful than screams! I can tell!" Mike was terribly excited. "Wait'll I tell Sully!" He started to frown. Boo looked at him and it was clear she now understood that 'Sully' meant 'Kitty'.

"We've gotta get her home safe, Mike. Then we can find Sully. I promise," Sora said.

"Then we gotta get to the factory floor and find her door. We're right around the corner. Follow me," Mike insisted. He walked with Boo's hand in his up front, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Sora behind. They exited into the now dark hallway and only had to walk a few paces until Mike pushed open a huge set of double doors. This was the room they had first entered through the door to Timeless River – the scoreboard, the doorways, the odd map…

At the end of the huge work floor there was a door already docked in the electronic station – a white door with purple flowers on it – Boo's door.

"That's it! There it is!" Mike yelled, almost tugging Boo's arm out of its socket. But the joy didn't have long to set in, as the map and the scoreboard went to static and were replaced by a far less attractive image – Randall Boggs smiled on the giant screen as his voice filled the room through the speaker system.

"Oh, you! You always come and visit me at work. You know I can get in trouble for that, don't you?" he smiled.

"Quit playing around, Randall…" Mike looked up at the screen, clenching his fist.

"Jafar wanted me to thank you for him. If it wasn't for you, Sully wouldn't be in the state he's in."

"Where is he?" Sora demanded.

"Cool your jets, human. You wanna see him? You got it."

The screen went to static as the extra fluorescent lights turned on in the room, illuminating rows of doors on either side of the heroes. All the lights began to glow red – the lights over black doors, white doors, blue doors…

Then, in the far end of the room, in front of Boo's door, a giant pool of black sludge formed. From it began to rise a beast of mammoth proportions. It could have touched the roof of the building by standing on a phonebook. The giant heartless was vaguely familiar to the friends, though it was nothing they had ever seen before. The beast had two giant, curling yellow horns, as big as boats. The fur was a light blue with black and red spots…very fuzzy and shaggy. The build of the creature was like a giant football player – big from the waist down, even bigger from the waist up. The mouth of the beast was a snarl of jagged teeth, and a long, slithering black tongue darted in-between his lips. A black nose and two cold, dark, slotted eyes stared down at the friends. In the center of his fuzzy chest was a yellow heart with jagged lines running through it – a symbol that the friends had seen on countless heartless in the past.

"S…Sully?" Mike stammered.

Boo's jaw dropped, as did everyone else's.

"That's Sully?" Sora asked. He looked at the Heart Harvester that Cid gave him in Radiant Garden and knew what had to happen.

"Look, Mike, I know this is going to sound crazy, but you have to trust me – we need to defeat Sully's Heartless," Sora said somberly. "It's not really him."

Mike just nodded and pulled out his nunchakus. Riku and Sora summoned their keyblades as Goofy readied his shield and Donald held up his staff. Sully's Heartless started to walk toward the heroes, as Randall literally dropped in from a rafter above.

The room glowed deep purple as the doors on the left and right of the heroes changed colors – Randall jumped into one door and came out in a completely different one across the room, spitting a powerful acid goo of some sort at the heroes. It missed, but Randall just ducked back into that door and popped out the one he came from. He zipped between Sully's legs and into the green door, popping out of the pink door seconds later. This time, the acid goo hit Mike and caused him to fall over in pain. Sully's Heartless was in the center of the room now, conjuring giant dark spikes and raining them over Goofy and Sora. Goofy held his shield over Boo, but got slashed with a spike himself, causing him to yowl.

Sora looked around the room as Riku did a spinning leap toward Sully's Heartless, slashing away at his left horn. Soon, the horn was nothing but a stump, throbbing on top of his undersized head.

Sora's brain finally clicked into overdrive as he had an idea. "Donald, Mike, take Boo into the corner and get her to laugh!" he yelled. Mike grabbed Boo and was followed by Donald. He yelled over his shoulder toward Sora

"Yeah, got a giant monster in the room and you want me to get a little kid to laugh? I don't think Bobo the Clown ever had to work this hard…" he mumbled, as Donald and Mike got to work.

Meanwhile, Goofy was trying to keep track of Randall as he went from door to door, managing to block his acid attack with his shield. "Green goes to pink…blue goes to red…white goes to orange…" he figured out where most of the doors went to…but every time he did, Randall tried to randomize them again by stomping on a button on the left most wall. Sora cast a really strong graviga attack on Sully's Heartless' right horn, dragging his body down to the ground of the floor. He hopped on the heartless' back and did some serious damage to the horn, though not completely crippling it like Riku did.

"C'mon kid…you were laughin' like crazy back when we were riding those rhino things…" Mike begged.

Boo just stared at him and Donald, not smiling, not sad.

Donald's eyes lit up. "Hey Boo, what's a ducks favorite snack food?"

"Oh jeez…don't say it," Mike said.

"Cheese and quackers!" Donald started laughing at his own terrible joke.

"Terrible! Jeez, I've got fresher jokes in tupperware!" Mike said.

Sully's Heartless ripped the purple door off its hinges and thrust his arm through it.

"Where's the purple door go, Goofy?" Sora yelled.

But it was too late, as Goofy started to say 'black', the black door flew off its hinges and almost sliced through Sora and smashed into pieces on the opposite wall. Sully's arm slashed at Sora and Riku, who were trying to keep their balance on his back. Soon, the gravity spell would wear off and he would be able to get up again. Nobody wanted that.

Randall bounded through the green door again…but this time, Goofy was waiting for him at the pink door with a spinning attack that grabbed Randall in a vortex. Goofy continued to spin until he had enough inertia and let go of Randall, sending him flying into the scoreboard. As he hit it, a shower of sparks filled the room and Randall fell to the ground, a dark shade of black smoke rising from his entire body.

Riku started to slash at Sully's Heartless' arm that was coming through the doorway. He just wanted to keep it from going back through…

But the other arm just ripped the orange door off the hinges and popped out of the white door, knocking Goofy across the room. Sora and Riku kept slashing at the arms coming through the doorways, intent on keeping them there.

"Mike, you have to get Boo to laugh!" Sora demanded, as Sully's Heartless started to shudder…the spell was wearing off.

Mike sighed and grabbed Donald's staff and started to whack himself in the head with it. Boo giggled.

"Louder!" Sora said.

Donald took his staff back and zapped Mike with thunder.

Boo laughed even harder.

"Just a little bit more!"

Goofy got up and started bouncing Mike off his bounce shield, as Donald poked him in the eye with his staff.

"Hey, whaddya doin' poking me in the eye! C'mon, I only got one! It's not like I can wear an eye-patch, that's just a blindfold!" He slapped Donald, making the three of them look incredibly like the three stooges.

This time Boo laughed very heartily. The lights in the factory surged and dimmed, over and over until Mike did his final number:

"You like slapstick? Well, here…you…go!" he groaned, bending over and sending a fart wave across the room. Boo stared at him with a shocked look on her face, tears in her eyes…

…and began to scream with laughter! The lights grew so bright they started to burst. The red bulbs on the doorways became shining beacons as they popped, one by one down the line. When the doorways holding Sully's Heartless' arms became deactivated, Riku and Sora jumped off the heartless' back and watched as it attempted to free itself from its self-created prison. It was no use – without power to the doors, the arms couldn't enter – or exit – them at all. Sully's Heartless was at the mercy of Riku and Sora.

The two boys clinked their keyblades together as they jumped in the air, nearly hovering above the heartless on the ground. They nodded at each other and unleashed a limit attack. Yelling "PUNISHING BLOW", they threw their keyblades down at Sully's Heartless and repeatedly punched the air, releasing wave after wave of dark and light energy, driving the keyblades faster and faster until they pierced through Sully's Heartless' back and into the factory floor. The beast melted into a puddle of black sludge as Sora and Riku landed, reclaiming their keyblades.

From the sludge, a bright light started to shine. A single beam broke free and a giant, shimmering silver heart rose up. Sora pointed his keyblade at it, and in a flourish, it was safely tucked away in the Heart Harvester.

Donald, Goofy, Mike and Boo met Riku and Sora in the center of the room. The damage was incredible – the screens were completely smashed, several of the doors were ripped clean off the hinges and Randall's acidy spit was burning several holes in the ground.

The double doors to the factory floor burst open to reveal Mr. Waternoose, looking quite angry. He was flanked by the de-con crew in their yellow suits.

"Get me the girl!" he screamed at them, sending the yellow suited men into a frenzy as they charged at Sora and company.

Mike picked up Boo and ran like a football player heading for a touchdown; Goofy and Donald knocked back as many of the de-con crew as they could, but they were swarming in like bugs. Sora was the first one to make it to the door - he put his hand on the handle as Mike skidded to a stop with Boo right in front of it.

"One more trick…" Mike said, as he indicated to Sora to stomp on his foot. "Yow!" Mike yelled, making Boo giggle just enough to power the door. Ten feet away, Riku's reflega shield was growing weak; but it gave them just enough time to open the door and put Boo back in her room.

As the door closed, Boo looked terribly sad. Mike smiled and said, "don't worry, Boo. You'll see me again." The door closed and Sora smashed the handle from the door with his keyblade. Boo was finally safe. The de-con crew stopped in their tracks.

"2319 secure! Repeat, 2319 secure!" the leader of the de-con crew ordered. They shot their rope guns through the glass in the ceiling and were out of sight, zipping up them faster than they came.

"NO!" cursed Waternoose. "No…you meddlesome fools…you'll pay for this. It's my job to power this city…and I'll do it by any means necessary." He slammed the door behind him as he left the friends in the factory.

Mike walked over to one of the working terminals and plugged it in. He slid a key card through the panel next to it, and punched in a few numbers.

"Mike? What are you…" but Sora stopped talking when, from a hole in the wall across the room, there came a giant door that looked exactly like the door between Disney Castle and Timeless River. As it was placed into the electronic component on the floor by a giant arm, Mike grabbed the handle and pulled it open. They could clearly see the Cornerstone of Light through the door.

"Guys…you guys are the best. I just wish…Sully could have met you…" Mike's eye welled up with a massive tear.

"Mike, trust us when we say you'll see Sully again. That monster was only half of him – half that I have safely stored here." He pointed at the Heart Harvester. "The other half is somewhere out there," he pointed through the door. "And we'll find him, reunite him with his heart and bring him back. We promise."

Mike smiled weakly. "Thanks, guys." And with that, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Riku passed through the door and back into Disney Castle, leaving Monstropolis behind…for now.


	14. Chapter XIV: The Outcast Alliance

CHAPTER XIV

THE OUTCAST ALLIANCE

Jafar trudged up the spiral stairs leading to Master Maximilian's throne room. How he wished he had good news. The walk seemed longer than usual…maybe it was the inordinate amount of heartless around the halls these days? It certainly looked like there was an infestation. Jafar slid a small shadow away from the door, using his staff like a golf club. He smiled as he heard a faint 'splat' on the opposite wall.

As Jafar entered the audience chamber, which was situated a few rooms before the throne room, he was stopped in his tracks by a floating red cape, flowing in through the window. It hovered in front of him for a few moments, and then touched down on the ground. Vincent pulled the cloak around him, revealing himself to Jafar.

"Not that easy, hm?" Vincent sneered.

Jafar smiled patronizingly. "At least I was thwarted by a keyblade master. You were outsmarted by a tiny little fairy. Isn't that…what you are, anyway? Half-fairy?"

"Half-vampire, smart-ass. Look, you can go in there and try to use this smug attitude on Master Max, but I promise you he won't stand for it as long as I have. You better be prepared to grovel. You told him you had a 'marvelous, magnificent creature' out there in Monstropolis! What happened to it?" Vincent stayed calm as he tore into Jafar.

Jafar noticeably winced. "The Dark One and his sidekick Sora, that's what. You don't think I threw something weak against them, do you? I used the strongest hero that world had, and they still chopped it to bits!"

"And what about yourself? Didn't you have a go at them yourself? The Dark One can't summon his keyblade in our presence…he should have been no contest." Vincent slowly started to walk circles around Jafar, lovingly toying with his triple-barreled pistol in the hoslter. "So basically, what it boils down to is, you're going to walk straight up to Master Max, tell him 'gee, sorry, the Dark One is still at large, because I got beat down by his sidekick?"

"There was more than Sora. That meddlesome duck and dog were there as well." Jafar rationalized.

"Oh, my mistake. You got beat down by his sidekick and his pets."

"Look, boy, I don't know what you're playing at. I've got my duty to report to Master Max whether I fail or not," Jafar said, pushing Vincent out of the way with his snake head staff.

"You're right. You are just a pawn in this game. Carry on." Vincent wrapped himself up in his cloak, hovered and flew out the same window from which he came.

Jafar stood in the doorway, shook the memory from his head and opened the door to the hallway.

"Master Maximilian, sir…I've got some unfortunate news," Jafar walked as if he was on eggshells as he entered the throne room. Master Maximilian sat in his throne, smiling as usual.

"As usual, Jafar, I know much more than you think I do. Doesn't it make sense, Jafar, that I would know everything that is happening concerning the Dark One, at any given time?"

Jafar slowly nodded.

"And wouldn't it make even more sense, Jafar, that I would know what is happening in my very castle, two doors away!" he stood up from his throne.

Jafar stammered, "y…yes, sir."

"So, Jafar, why do you insult my intelligence by walking in the room and telling me what I already know? Hm? Why try to sugar coat it? Are you trying to take advantage of me, Jafar?"

"No…no sir! Nothing of the sort…I merely was trying…attempting to…soften the blow…"

Master Maximilian turned his back on Jafar.

"Bring me the Dark One, Jafar. Bring him to me bound, shackled, tied…however you choose. Bring him to me…or you'll go back in the lamp for who knows how long, this time?"

A stone pedestal rose from the ground to the left of the throne. On it was a sealed crystal box, and inside was an ornamental black lamp – the lamp Jafar was imprisoned inside until Master Maximilian set him free.

"I do love showing off my nice things," Master Maximilian said.

"As you wish, sire." Jafar bowed.

"Oh, and if you see that Vincent Valentine again…tell him that next time he trespasses on my castle grounds without the Dark One in his grips, he can expect a much less cordial welcome wagon." Master Maximilian sat back down in his throne, pointed at the door, and Jafar got the point.

Jafar exited the castle twice as fast as he had entered it. Walking down the stone steps outside the castle, he passed by Vincent leaning against a stone column.

"Sounds like you're in trouble, genie," Vincent teased.

"You're in pretty hot water yourself, fairy boy." He continued down the steps for a few paces until he stopped in his tracks. He turned back to Vincent and swallowed his pride.

"You know…separately we've both gotten berated by Master. We're striving for the same goal, here…with my power, strength and charm, and your...your…well we can figure out what you add later…we can probably bring the Dark One back here before week's end." Jafar wagered.

Vincent took a good, long look at Jafar. "You know? You have a real funny way of saying 'let's be partners'. By the way, that thing I add? It's called good-looks."

Vincent smiled and extended his hand to shake Jafar's, already outstretched.


	15. Chapter XV: Nothing Out Of The Ordinary

CHAPTER XV

NOTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY

"You guys did it again! I can't believe you!" Kairi furiously paced up and down the hall of the cornerstone. "I can't even go to sleep without worrying if you're going to run off without me!"

"And you, Donald! You promised no more of this adventure business! We need you around the castle…" but Daisy's voice was drowned out by the sound of the main door to the audience chamber opening and slamming.

King Mickey and Queen Minnie descended the stairs into the hall, wearing very concerned expressions. From behind them came Merlin and Cid.

Sora ran his hand through his hair and smiled faintly at everyone.

"King Mickey, your majesty, we didn't mean to run off…honest. Someone needed our help in Monstropolis, and we couldn't just say no!" Sora pleaded.

"Yeah, King Mickey, honest!" Goofy added.

"Monstropolis, hm? I'll have to look it up. But what you did was dangerous, guys. We need to stick together and keep in touch if we're going to find out where all these heartless are coming from. If what you said is true about Radiant Garden, that's a whole lot of heartless. It's gotta take someone way stronger than Maleficent to control them. Cid, come and show us what you got." King Mickey requested.

Cid walked into the center of the hall with a box under one arm. Merlin casually conjured a table out of nowhere, and Cid placed the box on it, removing the top. Inside were six small blue and grey bulbs with what looked like paper clips attached. Also inside the box were two more Heart Harvesters, the same purple color as Sora's.

"What're those?" Donald asked.

"Well, the two extra Heart Harvesters are for Riku and Kairi's keyblade…in case we all get separated again…"

Kairi loudly cleared her throat and glared at Riku and Sora. They suddenly found something very interesting about their shoes, and wouldn't look up for the next few moments.

"And the micro-coms are for Riku, Sora, Kairi, King Mickey, myself and Merlin. These little bad boys only need a little tap -" he demonstrated with his finger "- and they go active. Speak into it and all five others pick it up, crystal clear, no matter where you are in the universe. Six dedicated micro-com channels, courtesy of Cid Highwind."

He passed the units out, as everyone clipped them onto their clothing, mostly near their necklines. Riku, on the other hand, clipped his onto the inside of his wristband. When he noticed the strange look he was getting from Sora, all he said was "hey, ya never know."

When the micro-coms were all passed out and the Heart Harvesters attached to Riku and Kairi's keyblades, everyone seemed to calm down a bit. Sora explained the story of Mike, Sully and the other monsters from Monstropolis to his friends in the hall of the cornerstone, while brooms and mops carried in assorted sandwiches and energy drinks.

"Wait, one of the good guys got turned into a heartless in that world?" Kairi said, confused.

"He was abducted by Jafar, wearing some silver and black suit and a mask with a frown on it," Sora said.

Merlin nearly dropped his tea cup. "A costume similar to that of the man we met in the bailey, Sora?"

"Yeah, pretty much the same, except the mouth was different."

Kairi butted in. "Yeah, the guy in the bailey had a sort of…flat mouth. No emotion."

"And the guy that kidnapped me back on the Islands…his mouth was smiling," Riku added.

"What's it all mean, Merlin?" King Mickey asked.

"Bad news, I'm afraid, lads. You see, those suits are indicative of something called 'The Legion of Shadows'. It's a sinister group…more ruthless than the heartless and more cunning than Organization XIII. I've only met one of their members, but it was eons ago. His name was Maximilian. Never did see his face. This only confirms my suspicions – someone from the Legion is trying to assemble it once more, and now that I know people such as Jafar have joined their ranks, I'm quite worried."

Silence fell on the cornerstone of light, as everyone took this in.

"So they turned your friend into a heartless?" Cid asked, figuring something out in his head. "Well, we know there's a Nobody out there of Sully…somewhere."

"And Leon!" added Kairi. "I bet they're both in the World That Never Was! Wasn't that the base of operations for the Nobodies?"

"It's true that when a Nobody is created, it starts off in the World That Never Was…but there's no telling how long they would stay there, what they would look like or if they'd even remain friendly to us," Merlin explained. "We need to tread softly in this territory. Remember, only strong-willed people retain their physical traits as Nobodies…"

"I know that Leon's as strong willed as they come…" Cid mused.

"And the way Mike talks about Sully, it's a safe bet that he looks pretty close too," Sora added.

"Okay, that settles it. We're hoppin' on the gummi ship and heading for the World That Never Was. Tomorrow," Cid added, noticing how tired everyone looked. King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Daisy all went into the castle, while Merlin led Cid, Kairi, Sora and Riku into the Disney square.

"The brooms and Yuffie managed to build me a house even larger then the one I had in Radiant Garden. Cid's able to have an entire room for his 'technology', while I'm able to relax in a room with none of it. You all will stay with us, and then tomorrow morning, we'll figure out who is setting off to the World That Never Was."

Daylight streamed through cracks in the wood in the extra room in Merlin's house, hitting Sora directly in the eye. He woke up, got dressed and headed out to the square to meet up with everyone else.

Merlin stood up on a pedestal he had conjured moments before. In the square stood King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Riku, Sora, Cloud, Yuffie, Aerith and Cid.

"Attention, attention. The World That Never Was is a dangerous place, filled with heartless and nobodies. The ruins of Castle Oblivion lie overhead the dark, damp streets of the city. Anyone going on this trip needs to realize that it's not a playground and serious damage certainly could happen if the proper care isn't taken."

Riku was the first one to stand up and address Merlin. "I'm not going."

Everyone was shocked – Riku was usually the first to put himself in the fray. "While battling Jafar and the Smiling Man back on the Islands, I found myself weaked when I tried to summon my keyblade. Sora and I figure the Legion members have some…enchantment or something that makes me unable to call my keyblade."

Cid leaned back in his chair. "Well, I can run some diagnostics on ya in my lab…Merlin can probably take a look at you too, see what's going on. Of course, I'd have to stay here in Disney Castle, if that were the case…"

"Good idea, Cid. Me and Kairi are gonna go to the World That Never Was. We've been there before…we have an advantage."

Kairi smiled at Sora, who quickly looked back at his shoes, blushing.

"Hey! We've been there before, too!" Donald said, irritated. "You're not going without me and Goofy."

Cid stood up. "Okay, well then that's the crew to investigate the World That Never Was. I made some new ships in the gummi hangar – some with some decent speed and weapon gummi's. But the maximum crew on each of them is four…so Sora, Kairi, Goofy and Donald – that's gonna be it."

The four of them nodded and sat down, as Cloud stood up. "I'm not sitting around here, waiting for the universe to implode around me," he said darkly. "Cid, can you spare another ship?"

"Sure thing, Cloud. As long as it comes back in one piece," Cid joked.

"Where are you planning to go?" Yuffie asked cheerily.

"You remember those heartless vessels we met on the way here, right? I'm gonna see if I can find any more of them, and trail one back to wherever they're coming from. It's a safe bet that somewhere, there's a world that has some massive shipyard. I just wanna see what we're up against," Cloud remained emotionless as everyone looked at him.

King Mickey spoke. "I'll go with you, Cloud." Queen Minnie started to protest, but knew that she was out voted.

Yuffie and Aerith also stood up. "You know, Cloud…what would you do if you didn't have friends like us to back you up?" They grinned.

Sora finished buying everything he needed for the trip – he had a box full of mega-ethers and hi-potions, and he even found a chest with a few AP Boost's in it around the hedges. Donald upgraded his Soul Catcher Wand to a Sizzle Stick, a magic wand that increases thunder damage. Goofy tried to sell his tattered Bounce Shield back…but ended up just throwing it away and purchasing a Stone Boomerang Shield. It was slightly smaller, but the attack power of it was amazing.

Sora tossed all his materials won from the hundreds of heartless he and his friends slew on the mountain at the small Moogle running the synthesis workshop. Before too long, he had three Runner Bangles and a Flip Charm – the Flip charm helped Kairi jump around at quick speeds when in a pinch, and the Runner Bangles increased everyone's normal speed.

When they all assembled in the gummi hangar later that night, Cid opened the bay doors to reveal two sleek, powerful looking gummi ships.

"Several front mounted laser turrets and a few repeating cannons on the belly. Decent engine gummis – you should be able to make it to the world that never was in less than a day from here. Also, there's a surprise in the cargo bay of each one," Cid explained.

Much smaller than the Red Zeppelin, he christened the yellow, orange and red one that Sora, Kairi, Donald and Goofy climbed into the "Barrett" and the purple and black one that held Cloud, King Mickey, Yuffie and Aerith the "Fenrir 2". Fenrir 2 was out the bay doors and out of sight before Sora even started the Barrett.

But at the last moment, a small, green blur whizzed past Cid's ear down at the control panel, up the wing span of the Barrett and floated right in front of the main view screen. Sora smiled and opened the hatch, letting Eddy the heartless come aboard, as the ship slowly raised through the bay door, and quickly jetted off into the dark, freezing reaches of space.


	16. Chapter XVI: And The Stew Gets Meteor

CHAPTER XVI

AND THE STEW GETS METEOR

Goofy was playing around with the in-ship intercom system while Sora piloted the Barrett. Donald and Kairi were close by, in the cramped living quarters of the ship. Nothing about it said 'home', but it wasn't a terrible place to spend a day or two.

"Gawrsh, is that what my voice sounds like?" asked Goofy over the intercom. "Are ya sure?"

Everyone yelled an exasperated "YES!" at him, and he finally turned off the intercom. So far, it had been pretty smooth sailing. Sora read the various computer screens in the dash of the ship and was pleased to see that the World That Never Was was only two or so hours from their current location. He switched the ship onto auto pilot and walked back into the cabin. "Goofy, keep an eye out for enemy vessels…lemme know at the first sight of a ship."

Goofy nodded as Sora disappeared through the sliding door.

Sora met up with Kairi and brought her over a cup of tea. "Hey," he said to her. "Tea?"

She nodded with a smile. "Donald and I checked out the entire ship – there's a gun turret that can seat one of us, if we need it during a firefight. And the surprise in the cargo bay that Cid mentioned? It's the gummi mech I used back in the Red Zeppelin! I think I'm going to call it the 'Olette'. What do ya think?"

Sora was about to say 'why do you get to name it'; but instead, he settled for "I like it, Kairi."

Goofy's voice rang out through the intercom. "We're under attack! Sora! Donald! Kairi! Hang tight!" he yelled, as the ship went through a series of sickening lurches and spins.

Donald rushed by them, heading for the main deck. "Goofy! I'm coming!"

Sora turned to Kairi as he ran for the ladder in the center of the cabin. "You go hop in the Olette! I'll see what I can do from the laser turret!"

Sora poked his head up into the small, cramped space on the topmost portion of the Barrett. Inside were a few whirring gizmos, a metal chair that swiveled and a pair of handles with two triggers on each. The handles were connected to a four foot long repeating laser turret that could move in a full 360 degrees around the gun station – the main guns could only shoot forward firing rounds. Hanging from the headrest of the chair was a pair of neon yellow goggles with black trim – he put them on and realized why they were there – the extra thick glassine protecting the gun station made it exceedingly difficult to see anything out in space, but the goggles heightened everything like turning the contrast up on a video set. It also had readouts of a very primitive nature – arrows blinked in the direction of oncoming enemies; right now, all four arrows were blinking, which Sora took to be bad news.

Bad news, in fact, was a drastic understatement – there were at least three dozen ships closing in on the Barrett from all sides – mostly they were the same variety of ship they destroyed in orbit around Disney Castle, but there were a few fresh ones. These new ships looked like flying saucers…but as they came close to the Barrett, they sprang open to reveal six arm-like appendages, each of which started shooting a spray of powerful, but inaccurate, laser fire. Sora clicked the thumb triggers on his turret – a powerful shot rocketed from the gun, recoiling and making Sora's hands hurt from not gripping tightly enough. These guns didn't have any targeting hardware…so every shot Sora made had to be manually aimed.

Goofy and Donald, on the other hand, were having a whole different set of troubles. The repeating blasters on the belly of the ship were doing their job, taking out one weak heartless ship after another…but the navigation controls became completely knocked out by some sort of interference, making Goofy have to take the reigns and maneuver completely on his own. Usually, he just had to make evasive maneuvers – now he was in charge of the ships entire flight path – whether they crashed into meteors, enemy ships, debris – it was all in his hands. Donald was tearing panels off of walls and slamming his Sizzle Stick all over the ship, trying to get the main navigation computer back online.

Kairi, in the meantime, was already outside doing some serious damage. She had perfected the combination of the spinning drill kick and the wrist blaster, taking out nearly ten heartless before Sora fired his first shot.

Sora lined up his sights with the flying saucer heartless ship hovering in front of the Barrett – Goofy's random cannon fire wasn't doing enough damage to it, and Kairi was busy – so Sora pushed both thumb triggers and an enormous 'whap' sound cut through the air, blasting through the center of the ship and causing it to explode. The resulting explosion send the six arms of the vessel flying off in all directions, impaling three more smaller ships on the way.

"Main navigation computer is back online!" Donald said, as he sat in the co-pilot's seat. "Concentrate on evasive maneuvers and don't go too far from Kairi!" The ship zoomed in an arc through the hollowed out inside of a meteor, seeing Kairi punching and kicking her way along on the other end.

The arms of the Olette suddenly stopped whirring. They had gotten snagged on something…Kairi pushed with all her might to release them, but it was no use – they were pinned behind her back. If only she could see what it was that was holding her back…but up ahead there was a worse sight – a six-armed heartless ship was hovering dead ahead, ready to unleash its blasters upon the now immobile Kairi.

Sora saw the two six-armed heartless ships up ahead. All of the smaller craft were wiped out, and these were the only two left. Why was one floating there, aiming its arms at the other one? He didn't want to find out…he aimed his laser at the back of the first heartless ship, planning on shooting a beam that would go right through it and blast the other one as well…he gripped tightly…

…as the intercom crackled with static, and finally Goofy's voice broke through. "Sora! Kairi's in trouble! She's behind that heartless, don't shoot!"

It was too late – Sora had already pushed the thumb trigger…but in the two milliseconds he had before it fired, he slammed the turret into a 90 degree turn and shot his beam into the wall of the meteor crater! He hollered back at Goofy through his intercom. "Gimme a little more notice next time, would ya! But I missed, so she's safe…" The words had barely left his mouth when he completed the turn to see the rocks and debris slowly crumbling and closing in, like a supernova, all around him. "We have to get out of here, Goofy! This whole place is gonna explode…well, implode…well, whatever it does, it won't be pretty!"

Kairi finally broke free of the grip of the enemy ship, and ducked down below as the fire from the last of the heartless ships obliterated the one that had previously held her captive. She looked back at the Barrett – it wasn't under fire from anything, so why was it moving so fast? And then she saw the rocks clamping closed behind them, as the pressure of space mixed with the unstable crater in the center of the center of the meteor, causing a massive implosion. The Barrett was nearly at the Olette now…no matter how fast Kairi got her engines started in the direction of the exit, it wouldn't be fast enough…that implosion was right on the Barrett's tail…

As the Barrett passed by Kairi's mech at near warp speeds, Sora noticed that Kairi wasn't moving with her own engines…she was just floating there, staring at the Barrett and her impending doom…after they passed her, Sora turned around and saw nothing but rocks and meteor shards compressing in a huge implosion behind the Barrett. He watched the final heartless vessel get sucked in to the implosion, crushed by the incredible pressure of the meteor.

Sora jumped from his seat and slid down the entire length of the ladder. He ran through the ship, heading for the cargo hold. He yelled up to the bridge, "Kairi was in there! We missed her!" but when he threw open the door to the cargo hold, there was the Olette, waving at him just like Kairi had so many times before. His heart didn't know it could stop pounding until she hopped out and walked up to him, smiling like nothing had happened.

"Nice goggles! We going swimming?" she joked. Sora tore off his goggles and stared after Kairi.

"I thought we lost you! I thought…I mean…I thought you were dead," he managed to stammer. "I thought I had lost you."

Kairi looked at him for a moment seriously and said, "now you know how I felt when you left the other night," but instead of making Sora feel worse than he already did, her serious attitude changed to a bright smile as she leaned in, kissed him quickly on the cheek and pranced off to the bridge.

Sora stood in the cargo hold, rubbing his cheek for a few minutes after that. Quite a few minutes, indeed.


	17. Chapter XVII: Rock The Boat

CHAPTER XVII

ROCK THE BOAT

Sora joined Donald, Goofy and Kairi back on the deck of the Barrett. Goofy was sprawled out over his chair while Donald piloted for a while. There wasn't much to do except dodge a stray meteor everyone now and again.

"So…how did you manage to get back into the cargo hold?" Sora asked Kairi, trying not to think about the kiss she had given him too much. It was just the cheek, after all…he had kissed her on the cheek a few times in the past, what was so different about her kissing him? He couldn't figure it out…

"I grabbed onto the tailfin of the Barrett as it passed by and hung on until we were clear of the implosion. I didn't mean to scare you…but trust me, it was a lot scarier from where I was hanging," she said, chuckling to herself.

Kairi really had a good handle on the whole 'near death experience' thing. She seemed to come out of every one of them stronger than before.

Sora nodded and checked the monitors – only an hour and a half until they would touch down in the World That Never Was. He was thinking about finding Leon and Sully's Nobodies when a giant wooden ship filled the entire view screen of the Barrett.

It was nothing like the heartless ships – he could tell that right away. Giant sails were drawn all over the ship, with orange patterns and a yellow glow to the otherwise white fabric. It almost looked like a solar panel, but slightly more primitive. There were giant rope buckles on either side of the mast, and the ship was positively spotless – not a speck of space debris on it. The body of the ship looked wooden – well, a wood substitute, he figured – and it was built like the wooden ships he had seen in Port Royal. The main differences were the enormous jet engines that glowed with blue flame jutting out the tail of the ship, and the fact that while a normal wooden ship only had two or three large sails, this one had to have at least ten of varying size and shape. He read the name as it passed them by, going the opposite direction of the World That Never Was.

"R.L.S. Legacy? Guys, do you see that ship?" Everyone rolled their eyes at this question – it was impossible to miss.

"What a weird ship…" Kairi said, half to herself.

They could see the World That Never Was up ahead. It was still at least an hour away…but they could see the world, and that made all of them sigh with relief. But what they saw open up in front of them after that made them feel what was quite possibly the exact opposite of relief – complete panic.

A black portal, identical to the ones the Legion of Shadows used, opened up in the center of space, in the direct flight path of the Barrett. Out of it shot a tiny space craft. The ship was a sleek black and had white tribal markings all over it, just like the Legion uniform. It was clear that it was a one man craft…but Sora knew that one person can quickly lead to trouble if they have the necessary means.

The small craft sped up with multiple boosts until it was right next to the R.L.S. Legacy. It extended what looked like octopus tentacles and docked onto the back underside of the Legacy – a location that would have been completely undetectable to anyone on that ship.

"We've got to follow it," Sora decided.

Goofy and Donald's jaws dropped with shock. "But, we're almost to the World That Never Was! If we follow it, there's no telling how far away it'll bring us!" Donald quacked.

Goofy nodded in agreement. "I'm with Donald, Sora. We need to find Sully's Nobody…we made a promise to Mike!"

Sora got angry. "And I'll keep that promise, you guys know that! We just need to help out that ship! I'd wager the entire Barrett that the little craft we just saw is a member of the Legion…and we can't let them turn anyone on that ship into a heartless. Besides, if Sully's nobody even is on the World That Never Was…"

"And that's a big if, you guys…" Kairi added.

"He'll be safe there until we can come back," Sora finished.

Goofy and Donald looked at each other, exasperated. "Fine, let's follow the Legacy," Goofy mumbled, and turned the Barrett to follow the giant flying sea-worthy vessel into the unknown.


	18. Chapter XVIII: Shooting For The Stars

CHAPTER XVIII

SHOOTING FOR THE STARS

The newly christened Fenrir 2 glided between asteroids as it dodged attacks from the heartless vessels surrounding it. It didn't take King Mickey, Cloud, Aerith and Yuffie very long to find what they were looking for. Cloud had intended to find a heartless ship and tail it back to whatever base it planned to land on, but he had been treated to at least twenty times what he expected. Only an hour into their interstellar flight, the mighty Fenrir 2 was ambushed by approximately thirty heartless ships which were hiding behind a massive set of asteroids.

Aerith and Yuffie were piloting the ship – Yuffie was fast on her feet and fast at the controls, taking evasive maneuvers whenever she could. Had she not been at the helm, the ship probably would be scrap by now…but luckily for the friends, it had only taken two or three direct hits, and those were deflected by the superior shields on the Fenrir 2. Aerith meanwhile was fiddling with the computer screens, keeping shields at the proper power levels.

Unlike the Barrett, the Fenrir 2 didn't have a top mounted laser turret…instead, the ship boasted a set of slash gummis that were positioned on either side of the vessel. They were controlled from a bottom side cockpit that had a swiveling metal seat like the one in the Barrett. On either side of the cockpit were two large metal tubes with handles at the far ends – one could reach their arms inside, grab the handles and effectively swing their arms sending out powerful laser slashes from the two slash cannons on the outside of the ship. King Mickey was doing a fine job at this – maybe even having fun as well.

"Easy now…don't take 'em all out before I've had my fun…" Cloud mused as he climbed into his surprise in the cargo hold. Sure enough, Cid had left the black and yellow gummi mech in good hands – Cloud had christened it the 'Oblivion' – and Cid had even gone so far as to design a gummi saber which replaced the right arm of the mech.

Cloud got into his mech and immediately pressed the intercom button, so that he could speak with the main ship.

"Okay guys, now make sure to leave one so we can damage it and cause it to have to retreat. I don't want to have to fight another whole ambush…" he said, slashing through a strange heartless ship that looked like a dragonfly.

As the Oblivion got farther away from the Fenrir 2, the signal started to fade and become riddled with static. King Mickey switched on his intercom and tried to talk to Cloud.

"Cloud, something strange is happening behind you…some weird black portal…steer clear of it…"

But unfortunately, the garbled transmission Cloud got didn't convey the important points of the message. His gummi mech was slammed from behind by a silver ship with white tribal marks on it, and Cloud didn't even notice what was happening until he looked toward the Fenrir 2 and saw the tiny Legion ship dashing straight at it.

The Fenrir 2 turned to face the new threat, as King Mickey mopped up the final heartless dragonfly ship. He stayed in the bottom mounted cockpit and continued to talk to Cloud.

"Those marks…" Mickey said. "Didn't Merlin say something about them?"

"Yeah. Those are the same marks on the uniform of the Legion members. The one I saw in Radiant Garden had almost the same thing…"

The line clicked and Aerith joined the conversation. "So…that's a Legion ship? Well, that's what I call jackpot," she turned and smiled at Yuffie. Yuffie wasn't smiling back – her brow was dripping with sweat as she pulled the Fenrir 2 out of a series of spins and flips, firing her main cannons at full speed at the Legion ship.

Cloud turned on his thrusters and was behind the Legion ship in seconds, taking one good slash with his new sword and sending the ship into a dizzying spin. He didn't connect – but King Mickey did as the Legion ship spun helplessly by him.

It looked like a fantastic game of pinball – the crew of the Fenrir 2 got dizzy watching it – as the the Legion ship got smacked with the slash gummi, it flipped toward an asteroid which it bounced off of with a soundless thud. Then, going the other direction, it was pelted with smaller rocks, changing the direction of the ship so that it was going directly at the Oblivion. Cloud readied his sword like a baseball player at bat…and the Legion ships thrusters kicked in, sending it running like a scared kitten from a dog!

As Cloud exited the cargo hold, rubbing his arm and feeling the strain of combat once more, he met Mickey on the way to the bridge. Aerith and Yuffie were sitting back chatting as they looked through the view screen at the Legion ship – dashing straight ahead, completely unaware that the Fenrir 2 was following closely behind.

Yuffie was finally smiling. "Ship's on auto pilot – following the exact course of the Legion ship, thanks to Aerith's course plotting…not to say the little bum even knows were following it – our cloaking systems are active, too."

"Do you really think the Legion ship will lead us to their base?" King Mickey asked Cloud, sitting down and cracking his fingers.

"Well…it'll lead us somewhere," Cloud said.

"Uh…yeah Cloud, it will…that's the understatement of the year…" Yuffie moaned.

"I mean it'll lead us somewhere significant – these ships can't be flying around on a pleasure trip – it'll either take us back to its closest base or to some world that they're planning on attacking with heartless. Either way, we're right there to find out a little more," Cloud walked out of the bridge moodily, heading for the sleeping chambers.

Aerith looked at the computer terminal with a puzzled look on her face. "That's really weird…the signal for the auto-pilot is fading…Yuffie, you might have to manually follow this guy until I can get it fixed."

"Sure," Yuffie agreed. She swiveled and grabbed the controls, focusing directly on the little silver and white ship. The Legion ship was now moving very erratically, swaying one way one minute, another way the next. Suddenly, it looked like it dove straight up into the air, turned around and crashed directly into a moon-sized asteroid floating in the middle of viewscreen.

"Whoa! Aerith, this guy just crashed right into the asteroid! Is he nuts?" Yuffie yelled.

"I've completely lost his frequency...auto-pilot is worthless without a frequency or coordinates…" Aerith complained.

King Mickey's ears perked up as he stared intently out the viewscreen. "Do exactly what he just did, Yuffie."

"Your highness?" Yuffie asked. "Wouldn't that be…suicide?"

"Merlin told me a lot about these Legion guys…if they're half as strong-willed as they used to be, they'd never do something foolish like intentionally crash into an asteroid. Trust me," Mickey looked at Yuffie. She could understand his point…it had made it an awfully far way without crashing so far, so why would it all of a sudden crash on an asteroid bigger than most moons?

Yuffie pulled the ship up into a climbing roll…at the point where the Legion ship flipped over, she did so – diving straight at the asteroid.

"It's gotta be fake…" Mickey said, still convinced. "A hologram or something…"

"It's looking realer every second, your majesty…" Yuffie nervously twitched her fingers on the controls, looking for something that would tell her it was a hologram.

"Stay your course…" Mickey told her firmly.

"We're getting way too close now…Aerith, put all power to the forward shields…" Yuffie asked, but King Mickey stayed Aerith with one hand.

"Don't. We're gonna need that power for the engines…"

Aerith didn't know who to listen to – King Mickey had never steered her wrong before, but Yuffie was a true friend…she had proven herself many times…but so had King Mickey, she told herself. Finally, the decision was made for her – she looked out the viewscreen and saw a dark black speck on the side of the asteroid, no bigger than their ship.

"There!" she said, pointing. Immediately, Yuffie adjusted their course so that they were aiming straight for the hole.

"An asteroid base…" King Mickey marveled. "If what I've heard about these things is true, they have…"

"AUTOMATIC DOORS!" Yuffie bellowed. "Aerith, all available juice to forward thrusters, get us moving!"

As Aerith punched in some numbers, the ship started moving faster and faster as it slid through the hole, barely nicked by the automatic door. Up ahead, another door was closing in on them…Yuffie scraped the top of the ship trying to get past this one. A deafening, shrill noise echoed through the ship, making Aerith and Yuffie cringe. Up ahead, the final door was already closed. Yuffie was about to hit the cannons, but the door was ripped into four neat pieces by the slash gummis.

King Mickey's voice rang through the intercom. "Bring us down somewhere out of sight," he told Yuffie.

As Cloud, Yuffie, Aerith and King Mickey all climbed off the Fenrir 2, their steps echoed out on the cold concrete floor. The massive center of the asteroid was home to many things – giant wooden crates, some intact and some broken open; a massive computer screen with a large computer terminal beneath it; and literally thousands of various heartless ships.

There were the small, annoying blue ones in the greatest numbers…but there were a staggering amount of the red saucers with arms, the green dragonflies, and plenty that they had never seen before. Some looked like giant robot men, some looked like disgusting variations of butterflies. They all bore the heartless insignia, as did the computer screen.

King Mickey, Cloud and Yuffie couldn't speak to save their lives. Aerith managed to stammer one word:

"Jackpot."


	19. Chapter XIX: Loot Of A Thousand Worlds

CHAPTER XIX

THE LOOT OF A THOUSAND WORLDS

Sora couldn't take his eyes off of the wooden ship sailing ahead of him. The majestic sails rippled in the darkness of space. The flag soared – a beautiful white flag with a blue and white symbol…

Sora only realized how long he had been staring at the flag when it started to descend down the flagpole. He was keeping the ship at a far enough distance so that the crew didn't see them and become wary…but he thought he could make out the shape of an interesting little alien climbing up the flagpole. But what was it doing up there? Suddenly his question was answered when instead of the white flag, a black flag flew in its place. The flag bore a skull that looked like it surely belonged to an alien, with rings around it. At first glance, it looked like the skull and crossbones of a pirate flag…

"Pirates?" he said to himself on the bridge. But he wasn't alone, he soon realized.

"Hmm? Pirates?" Kairi asked, stepping up behind Sora's chair.

Sora jumped as he turned to see Kairi so close to him. He backed up into the computer terminal awkwardly and managed to speak, "ye…yeah, they look like they just raised a pirate flag on the Legacy…but it's not the flag they were flying before…"

Kairi looked concerned. "Do you think the Legion member somehow boarded the ship and took it over?"

"I don't think so…I've been watching that little Legion ship pretty closely, and so far it hasn't budged," Sora thought back to how much time he wasted staring at the flag of the ship. "Well…at least I don't think it moved. Anyway, do you think one member of the Legion could take over an entire ship?"

Kairi bit her lip. "Stranger things have happened."

As if waiting for a cue from Kairi, the large pirate ship on the view screen opened up a hatch on the underside of the ship – a small hole, large enough to fit a gummi ship half as large as the Barrett inside. But instead of something going in, something came out – a large longboat with one solar sail. The boat looked just like any boat in any lake in any world; except for the propulsion engine and the glowing yellowish solar sail, that is. The boat dove downward toward the nearest planet, a planet none of them had noticed at all due to their fascination with the ship.

The planet was a large green sphere with glowing green rings. Almost surreal, it seemed to have strange…patterns all over it. Circles and lines leading into other circles – kind of like a strange, looping system of crop circles. The planet certainly looked odd, but very impressive.

The longboat was flying frantically away from the pirate ship. It came within fifty yards of the Barrett on its frantic course to escape – at the longboat's closest arc to the Barrett, Sora caught a glimpse of it's motley crew of passengers – a young man of about Sora's age, wearing a rat-tail in his dark hair; what looked like a cat wearing a naval officer's uniform; and what had to be a dog with an upturned nose wearing a strange red and white 18th century suit.

Sora was about to say 'weird' when he looked behind him to see Kairi, Donald and Goofy. He chuckled to himself and went back to checking on the situation.

It had gone from strange to dangerous – as Sora turned back to the viewscreen, he saw a giant black ball, coursing with energy waves hurdling straight at the longboat. With a sickening crash, it tore through the back end of the longboat, sending debris out into space. Sora would have kept watching, but Goofy had grabbed the controls and was taking evasive maneuvers. Through the viewscreen, Sora could now see more laser balls flying in their general direction. Goofy dodged them all with minimal difficulty.

"Those guys need our help!" he yelled at Goofy, pointing toward the planet. "They got hit!"

"Already on it, Sora!" Goofy affirmed. Indeed, the ship had been turned back and was zooming on the tail of the longboat. Suddenly up ahead, the terrain of the planet had become more apparent – the area they were crashing in was a giant forest of strange trees. It looked very organic and slimy…the trees were twisted and gnarled, and beneath them was a bog with a disgusting muck filling it. The tops of the trees didn't look like the trees Sora was used to – instead, they were almost like balloons.

Sora realized quickly that if they didn't intervene, the ship would probably crash into one of the trees, ending their rescue attempt immediately. "Gotta mow down those trees!" he blurted out, taking the rungs of the ladder to the laser station three at a time. He had left his goggles downstairs…he didn't need them, he decided…he grabbed firmly, palms sweating…

The longboat was nearing the tops of the trees…if they got too close, they'd surely crash into them…

Sora aimed, squinting, trying to lead the longboat with enough space to fry the trees without harming the crew…he found a good spot…steadied…and squeezed the thumb triggers.

A bolt of laser energy cut through the trees in front of the longboat, clearing out a fairly decent landing zone for the longboat.

"Okay…up to you guys, now…" Sora said, praying for the unknown crew of the longboat.

Goofy put the Barrett down on the soft, loamy ground in the forest about one hundred yards from the crashed longboat. The longboat managed to hit the water at a fair skid, slide off into some muck and stop when it hit a wall of moss. A little bumpy, but certainly better than other options…

Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kairi stepped out of the Barrett, looking around cautiously. Suddenly, a young dark-haired man with his hair pulled back in a rat-tail jumped out from behind a pile of moss. He was holding a decent sized scimitar…the kind of weapons pirates used. He had an earring in one ear, giving him a rugged look. His clothes completed that rugged feel – grey pants and blue jacket over a grubby looking yellow shirt.

"Whoa! Put that thing away! We're here to help!" Sora said, defensively.

"Was it your ship that fired that laser just now?" the boy asked.

"Yep!" Sora said, proudly.

The boy with the rat tail stomped on Sora's foot with his strange looking boots. Donald put his fists up and Goofy raised his shield.

Kairi stepped forward, angrily. "What was that for?"

"That was for scaring the purp juice out of us. And this," he grabbed Sora's right hand with his, pulling him in close for a deep, heartfelt handshake, "is for saving our butts back there." He shook him hard, slapped him on the back a few times and finally let him go.

Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kairi looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Sora smiled and turned to the boy. "Well…you're welcome. I…I think," Sora chuckled. "You know, you have a real strange way of saying thanks…" he rubbed his injured foot with his other.

"Sorry about that. Just have a real hard time trusting people…I've been double crossed too many times," the boy said. "Jim Hawkins. Pleasure to meet you, friends. Actions speak louder than words…and since you saved my butt, I'm in your debt. Uh…who am I in debt to, exactly?"

Sora stepped up and shook Jim's hand again. "I'm Sora, and these are my friends Kairi, Donald and Goofy. No payment required."

Jim smiled coyly. "Oh, when you see what I'll be paying with, you might change your minds. Welcome to Treasure Planet."


	20. Chapter XX: The Story So Far

CHAPTER XX

THE STORY SO FAR

"Treasure Planet?" Donald quacked. His eyes turned the same color they did when they were in the Cave of Wonders back on Agrabah…Goofy and Sora sighed as Donald licked his lips impatiently.

Jim smiled and led the four friends over to the crashed longboat. Inside, like Sora had seen before were two strange creatures – one looked like she was in a great deal of pain.

The cat-like woman had beautifully large blue eyes and a blue, naval overcoat. Fancy white gloves covered her long fingers, and a white bandage was wrapped around her midsection. Tall, blue boots over skintight grey pants completed her outfit – with the exception of the wrecked ship around her, she looked like she would have been a fine captain. She spoke with a bit of difficulty.

"Hello lads, Captain Amelia's the name, but you can call me Captain or ma'am. Understood?"

"Uh…sure thing…ma'am," Sora said roughly. Was it just him, or were these the most ungrateful people he ever met? Captain Amelia proved him wrong by speaking up.

"Just pulling your leg, son. I'm in no state to demand anything of you. You saved us all, and for that I am eternally grateful."

The strange looking dog creature that was kneeling next to Amelia stood up. He had a sophisticated air about him…his hair was slicked back and he wore a crushed velvet suit with ruffles and coattails. His face, however, was quite comical – an upturned snout of a nose with beady little eyes protruding from behind spectacles. He behaved almost neurotically, stammering and shaking, though it was clear he had great intelligence.

"Indeed, we are in your debt, sirs and madmen…mad…er, madam. Doctor Delbert Doppler, at your service. I am a renowned astrophysicist from the small system of Montressor. Had you not cleared the path for us with your laser, I fear we would be…hmm…how you say, 'dead meat'."

From behind Doctor Doppler came a strange pink creature. It was no bigger than a softball...squishy looking and bumpy. It had a cute little face with two large eyes – that is, until it looked at Donald and became an exact replica, scaled down to the size of Tinkerbell.

"That's Morph. He can change shapes into pretty much anything…" Jim explained.

Donald looked at the copy of himself, which was now doing a silly little dance in midair. "Cut that out!" Donald yelled.

"Cut that out! Cut that out!" Morph repeated shrilly…it Morphed back into the pink goo and flew to Jim's side.

Donald started another fire in the camp on Treasure Planet. He used pieces of the destroyed longboat to keep it lit this time – the fire was burning very brightly. By the light of the fire, Sora saw Jim look to the sky with a worried expression on his face.

"It's only a matter of time before the pirates find out where we are down here…" Jim said. Before Sora got a chance to ask him about the pirates, Jim began to explain everything that had led them there.

A while later, Jim finally stopped talking and Sora spoke up.

"So…you're from the planet Monstressor, and some strange alien crashed and gave you a map?" Sora tried to sort it all out.

"Yeah. The alien called himself Billy Bones, and told me to 'beware the cyborg'. Sure enough, that cyborg was after the map Billy had given me and infiltrated the Legacy, pretending to be a decent, hard working cook. His so-called crew was a bunch of pirates in disguise."

"They staged a mutiny shortly after my first mate, Mr. Arrow, was killed in an accident. He got sucked into a black hole, I'm afraid. Those driveling galoots…I knew that I described them well back when I first hired them," Captain Amelia quickly shook a tear away from her eye. It was not like a Captain to lose face in front of her crew, and even though she was injured and stranded, the Captain was still strong in the face of adversity.

"So the Legacy has been taken over by pirates…I knew that flag was a pirate flag…" Sora said to Kairi. "And the cyborg?"

"Mr. Silver. Quite a ruffian," Doppler said.

"So…back on the subject of treasure…" Donald prompted Jim to steer the conversation in a more lucrative direction.

"Yeah, that's gonna be a tough one. The map led us here, to Treasure Planet…but we left it on the Legacy when we had to escape. I know where it is…and I know the pirates won't find it – they think that WE have it down here, so they're not even looking. The tough part is going to be getting back onto the Legacy," Jim pouted as he looked at the destroyed remains of the longboat, roasting away in the fire.

Goofy pointed at the Barrett. "We can take this up there…can't we?"

Jim shook his head disappointedly. "While I do admire your ship, it's way too big to fit in the belly of the Legacy. We'll have to find a place around here to camp and hide out…for a while, at least."

"First rate idea, Mr. Hawkins, you and these heroes you've adopted as our makeshift crew can go find us shelter," Captain Amelia said smugly. They all took her with a grain of salt – after all, a good Captain leads their crew on land, in water or in space.

Donald and Eddy stayed behind at the fire with Doctor Doppler and Captain Amelia, attempting to use some curaga magic on her to speed the healing process.

Goofy, Kairi, Sora and Jim all walked on ahead into the deep forest. Jim and Sora walked in the front, slicing tangled webs of roots with their keyblade and scimitar, respectively. Up ahead of them was more and more forest…forest in all directions. They sliced their way through to a large bog that was only ankle deep.

And then, in a stunning definition of the word 'inconvenient', a black portal opened up in front of them all in the center of the bog. Swirling with the black mist coming from within, a large figure stepped out from the black hole – a fat man wearing a silver and black suit with tribal markings all over it. His mask was an eerie silver and copper tone…with a face that had an indifferent, flat line for the mouth.

"The Unsmiling Man from the bailey!" Kairi recognized him immediately. He drew his hands outward, his two laser sais from before materializing in them.

"You recognize this dude?" Jim asked Sora.

"Unfortunately, yeah. We do," Sora replied, holding his keyblade out, ready for battle.


	21. Chapter XXI: Two Faced Tussle

CHAPTER XXI

TWO-FACED TUSSLE

Sora and Kairi dove immediately at the Unsmiling Man, but the two powerful swings from overhead were blocked instantly with his strange laser sais. He parried and elbowed Sora in the stomach, sending him flying backwards into Goofy. The Man's right foot swung around behind him, causing him to do an odd breakdancing move, knocking the feet out from beneath Kairi.

He stood up, the quick victor of the faux battle. He returned his sais to two small holsters on his waist and walked up to Jim, face to mask.

"John Silver?" the Unsmiling Man barked. His voice was harsh and mechanical.

"Never heard of him," Jim lied.

"Very well, then." He began to walk away toward the black portal that was still swirling in the middle of the bog.

Jim took a step toward him. "What do you want with him?"

"A ruthless, cyborg pirate? Why, I can't imagine what I'd want with him," he droned, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He stepped through the black portal – but before it closed completely, his arm stuck through, snapped its fingers, and disappeared with the rest of him.

Approximately ten heartless large bodies spawned in the tight bog around Jim, Sora, Goofy and Kairi. Up above them was worse news – flying pirate heartless were swarming down on them from only meters away, blue and white wings glinting in the sunlight. As if that wasn't enough, the bog water started to turn from its normal light green color to a dark green…a blueish…and finally black.

Sora turned to Jim. "How are you at fighting?"

Jim smirked. "I can hold my own. You forget – I just escaped a pirate ship with barely a scratch on me." He dove at a large body, brandishing his scimitar, and promptly bounced off of its massive reflective belly.

"You've gotta hit 'em from behind!" Goofy bellowed, being smacked around by the flying pirates. He started to spin his shield around his finger and finally let it go – the stone boomerang sailed around the bog, slicing through the winged creatures one at a time, as if enchanted.

Kairi bounced from the heads of the large bodies like a young girl playing leapfrog. She sliced them from behind as she jumped away, knocking them down for Jim to slice at with his scimitar.

Sora and Goofy were nowhere to be seen in the fray…just a pile of pirate heartless in the center of the bog...

"Sora!" Jim yelled, kicking off of a large body and rushing toward the pile…but up in front of him, something nobody expected happened…the black bog water started to swirl and lash out at them with giant tendrils of darkness. Jim was grabbed by one of them, wrapped up and held helpless twenty feet in the air. Where the pile of heartless had been, a ridiculous amount of tendrils shot up in the air, creating a prison of darkness around Sora and Goofy.

Kairi was getting weak at this point…there were so many large bodies, and they kept reflecting almost all of her attacks…she stopped for a second to catch her breath…and then jumped faster than she had ever jumped before. She took a moment to realize that her flip charm was kicking in – a blessing and a curse. It wouldn't kick on until she was critically hurt, but it allowed her to do some serious double jumps, swinging her keyblade wildly around her.

The pirate heartless flew up from within the prison and attacked Kairi – but she was able to keep herself aloft by bounding from one to the next, and when they were all dead she leaped from the rock wall back to the bog. There were still plenty of large bodies, not to mention the tendrils of darkness. As three large bodies slid on their stomachs toward Kairi, she knew that it was over…she couldn't stop all three at once…

But at that moment, a blinding flash of red and white light shot up from the center of the tendril prison. Two keyblades – the One-Eye and the Kingdom Key – pierced through opposite sides of the prison, spun like a top and destroyed every tendril wrapped around what was inside.

When the darkness cleared, standing in the center of the bog was Sora – wearing a red suit with black accents, holding two keyblades and emitting a faint red glow.

Valor Form Sora dashed around the bog, bounding from walls to get to Kairi in time – he swung with a mighty uppercut, sending two of the large bodies into the air. With a backswing, he sliced the tendril holding Jim clean in half, as he jumped into the air and pummeled the two large bodies in a dizzying combo that seemed like it would never end. As they popped, Jim flew downward past Sora, scimitar pointing straight at the ground, finally connecting with the final large body zooming straight at Kairi. It spun out of control, as Sora did a downward kick and finished it with a beautiful flourish of red energy waves.

Jim helped Kairi stand up as the bog reverted to its normal greenish color. Sora shined once more, and when the light dimmed, Goofy was standing next to him once again, and Sora was wearing his normal clothes, no longer holding two keyblades.

"Whoa…what were those things?" Jim asked, catching his breath.

"They're called heartless," Kairi answered. "Beings that have no heart…"

"Creepy," Jim said.

"We don't have much time – that was a member of the Legion. He's going to find the strongest person on this planet and turn them into a heartless…probably anyone else who gets in the way, too," Sora said gravely.

"But…he was looking for Mr. Silver…" Jim said, conflicted. Jim never had a father growing up, and even though Mr. Silver betrayed him, Jim knew he still had good in him. He was the closest thing to a father Jim ever had. "It's no doubt that the pirates followed us after we escaped in the longboat," Jim pointed up at the Legacy, hovering in the atmosphere of Treasure Planet. "The ship is probably deserted…we can get the map later. I know it sounds crazy…but we need to find the pirate camp and make sure that none of them get turned into heartless. They're pretty mean in a fight…I'd hate to see them without hearts."

Sora, Goofy and Kairi nodded a silent approval as they pushed on through the bog, weapons out, ready for any more danger.


	22. Chapter XXII: Cranky Foe, Clanky Friend

CHAPTER XXII

A CRANKY FOE, A CLANKY FRIEND

Sora, Jim, Goofy and Sora exited the bog and were now in a slightly less damp, more worn out sector of Treasure Planet – large, sandy dunes were stretching out in all directions, punctuated by the rubble of ships and plenty of disgusting, swampy muck tying the whole motif of 'dilapidated forest world' together. Jim moved up ahead, Morph poking out of his pocket and zooming around the debris like a curious hummingbird.

All of a sudden, one of the piles of debris started to shift, as a slender bronze robot popped out from beneath it. The robot had several spots of dirty rust all over its body. The awkward way in which it walked was due to its design – it had gears for wheels on its knees and feet, but large ball joints connecting its knees and torso. Spindly arms reached out from the rust covered body, and on top sat a strange looking flying-saucer like head. Two eyes like telescopes popped out, blinking green and black lights for the pupils. On top of its head was a large indent with wires coming out in all directions.

"People! Oh, you wouldn't believe how good it is to see people! I've been stranded here for YEARS! The first couple of years are nice for a while…but after four hundred or so…it gets a little tedious!" he cried, rushing up to Jim and shaking his hand vigorously. "The name is Ben! Uh…yeah…oh yeah! B.E.N. – short for Bio-Electronic Navigator!"

They realized the final strange component of B.E.N. was the large, rustic compass popping from the center of his chest. As he pushed it back into place, he moved down the line, shaking everyone's hand firmly.

"It's nice to meet you, B.E.N. I'm Jim Hawkins, and these are my friends Sora, Goofy and Kairi. Hey, listen…have you seen any pirates go by here, recently?"

"Oh yeah, long time ago…"

Jim's eyes widened. "Really? When?"

"I…don't…remember!" he pronounced with difficulty, staring at the ground, deep in concentration. When he looked up at Jim and his friends, he smiled wide.

"Hey! It's great to see humans! Oh, I've been stranded here…"

Sora interrupted. "You…already said all that."

"Did I?" the robot sounded sheepish. "Sorry…my main memory unit is missing, and I have no short term memory without it," he pointed at the hole in his head.

Jim let out an exasperated sigh. "Pirates? You seen any?"

"Yeah…I used to be…part of…" he started to shake and shimmy, his memory units overloaded. "…part of…Captain Flint's crew!"

"Flint? Like Nathaniel Flint, the famous pirate you were telling us stories about, Jim?" Kairi asked.

"The very same!" B.E.N. proclaimed. "And his treasure is on this planet! The treasure…in the planet's…the planet's…core!" His circuits fried, his eyes blinked off, then on again and he smiled at everyone.

"Humans!" he cried. The friends all groaned and started walking down the dusty path between the rubble. B.E.N. followed them, though for the life of him, he couldn't remember why.

Finally, they reached a small valley of rock and mold. Jim halted the party – up ahead, at least a mile out – he could clearly see two longboats parked recklessly on the ground.

"The pirates! They're down the valley this way!" Jim pointed excitedly.

Jim, Sora, Kairi, Goofy and B.E.N. all ran at a full clip down the deserted valley. Unfortunately, the valley didn't stay deserted for long – from all the walls around them, heartless started digging out. The small, green mole heartless with the drills on their faces, the flower heartless that could attack from underground with their roots, and the small bomb heartless that detonated after you attacked them. They started pouring out from every hole in the wall – whether it existed already or they were making it themselves – and soon were swarming all around the heroes. Sora heard a familiar cackle from above and looked up. Sure enough, at the top of the valley was the Unsmiling Man, ready to enter a portal already summoned to his right.

"Good luck with the rescue attempt – if the heartless don't get you, the landslide they cause certainly will," he sneered, casually walking through the portal, leaving Sora, Kairi, Goofy, Jim and B.E.N. in a quite the tight situation.


	23. Chapter XXIII: Rocky Road Of Judgement

CHAPTER XXIII

THE ROCKY ROAD OF JUDGEMENT

The Unsmiling Man was right – almost immediately after he mentioned it, the friends could see the rock walls of the valley start to shake with instability. The heartless had drilled it into swiss cheese; it was only a matter of time before the walls would break and crush them.

"No matter what happens, just keep moving toward the end of the valley – just attack what you need to in order to get out of here alive!" Sora's advice was pretty obvious, but everyone agreed and started rushing toward the opposite end of the valley. Sora and Jim slashed most of the flower heartless out of the way – if they got their feet tangled in them, they would surely be crushed – when Sora had a revelation.

"DON'T HIT THE LITTLE BLACK ONES!" Goofy and Kairi understood – the minute bomb heartless would start a timer when attacked and blow up eight seconds later…a terrible type of heartless to be up against in this situation.

The escape became ten times harder – now, instead of trying to mow their way out of an avalanche, they were trying to mow around land mines in an avalanche. Goofy, who specialized in mostly broad, sweeping attacks, chose to defend up front instead of attacking. The last thing they needed was to set one of those bombs off.

They were nearing the end…the walls of the valley were tapering downward at a slight angle. Sora and Jim were on opposite sides of the valley, sweeping out more of the digging mole heartless, when they heard Goofy's trademark 'uh-oh…'.

They looked back and saw Goofy, Kairi and B.E.N. staring at a bomb heartless…a flashing white and red bomb heartless…

"Sorry! I didn't mean to step on it!" B.E.N. apologized. Sora and Jim traded worried looks.

"Kairi, Goofy, get B.E.N. and yourselves out of danger, Jim and I will stop the avalanche from spreading!"

Kairi and Goofy stopped dead in their tracks, B.E.N. running around them nervously. Then, Goofy and Kairi grabbed each others hands and yelled "TORNADO VALLEY!" Kairi threw Goofy's hands toward the ground – in a flash, Goofy's shield was on the ground, him standing on his hands on top of it. Kairi did an aerial flip, and started a massive twirl that caused spiraling wind to race around her at incredible speeds. At the height of her spin, she grabbed Goofy's feet which were sticking up in the air and turned Goofy into a giant drill – the resulting wave of wind and rock knocked back several more of the bomb heartless, starting their timers as well…

Five…

Sora and Jim raced up the walls on a slant toward the longboats. The ground was crumbling beneath their feet. It reached up to the sky – two hundred feet or more – and the bottom of it was chewed to bits by heartless. Every step caused the walls to become more unstable…

Four…

B.E.N. dove into the hole after Kairi and Goofy, braving the wind to save his life. Heartless were trying to jump down after them, but Kairi's massive tornado was keeping them all out.

Three…

The longboats were just ahead. Sora and Jim looked over at each other, running nearly vertically along the wall – as Sora unsummoned his keyblade and Jim put his scimitar into his belt. What was going on?

Two…

Kairi was growing tired, but she and Goofy kept their powerful limit attack up, driving Goofy and B.E.N. past the point where Sora and Jim were above ground. They slowly started an upward arc, using the last bit of Kairi's strength…she couldn't stop now…the cave she created would cave in on them, as it was behind them…

One…

Jim and Sora reached down into the sea of heartless, which were clamoring for them with bloodlust in their beady little eyes. They each plucked a single bomb heartless from the crowd and punched it with their other hand, causing it to activate…they pushed off the walls as the valley walls ended, sending them just ahead of the heartless, clear of the valley – they tossed their bombs in the air as they passed by each other and then…

Perfect! Sora and Jim landed their backflip kicks into the bombs, sending them backwards into each of the walls. The resulting impact caused the bombs to explode…the walls cracked and crumbled…raining debris down on the now exploding heartless…the explosion grew and grew with the more heartless it consumed, but at the end of the valley no more than fifty feet from where Jim and Sora stood, the rocks blocked off the river of explosions with a muffled thud.

Kairi and Goofy poked up from the ground, and as Kairi saw the light, she stopped spinning, completely out of breath. She collapsed on the ground next to Jim and Sora, who were leaning on each other trying to regain their balance and breathe. Goofy stood up, but wobbled quite a bit as B.E.N. cautiously sprang up from the hole.

B.E.N. looked at the now collapsed valley and his jaw practically unhinged itself. He looked at the battle weary friends and spoke.

"Hoo boy, glad I'm not the guy who started THAT mess!" he said cheerily, his metal mouth resembling a smile. Jim would have pulled out his motor unit…but suddenly, they had bigger problems.

Captain John Silver, a large and very fat man came walking into view, as Sora, Jim, Kairi and Goofy regained their balance. The man was indeed a cyborg – his entire right arm was robotic. It had a set of fingers with pads on the ends, but behind that, where a wrist would be, there was a large metallic chamber, about a foot and a half long. Inside, they soon realized were other sorts of hands – some claws, some pinchers – they cycled through until Silver found the one he wanted – a pistol. His arm connected to his shoulder with a strange hydraulic system – black accordion plastic connected to the silver metal looked quite industrial. Besides the arm, he also had a metal leg using the same black hydraulic system from the arm, and a series of wires led from his neck to his right eyeball – not entirely an eyeball, it was a set of small diodes and lights with magnifying glasses attached.

The robotic parts of him aside, he was still quite ugly. A wide, fat nose underneath bushy protruding eyebrows…a gap-toothed smile…and the grubby brown three-point hat he wore on his head hardly painted the picture of 'gentleman'…but in pirate terms, Silver was certainly top rank.

"Oh, and what do ye think your doin', little Jim? Come to give us the map?" he sneered, as from behind him more creatures became visible.

An entire slew of pirates – some with five eyes, only two feet tall; some with many large anteater-like snouts all over their bodies that tooted in disgusting ways; some hulking masses with four arms, thin beards and massive teeth – all terribly ugly, all terrifying.

"Even if I had it, Silver, I wouldn't give it to the likes of you," spat Jim.

"Take it easy, Jimbo. I'm sure we can work out some sorta…agreement…" the pirates all bellowed with laughter.

"Don't you listen? We don't have it!" Sora yelled back at Silver.

The Unsmiling Man's voice rang through the encampment.

"You don't know when to quit, do you? I've worked hard stalking this pirate crew, and they'll all be heartless yet! No matter how many times you meddling fools get in my way!"

Silver looked over at the Unsmiling Man.

"Aye, we're blood-thirsty pirates! I'd wager that we're as heartless as they come, mate," he said.

The Unsmiling Man snapped his fingers. In a flash, pools of black sludge formed around the feet of Captain Silver and his rowdy crew. From the pools came large tendrils, just like the ones Sora and his friends had seen in the bog. The next instant, the tendrils were wrapped around the arms, legs and necks of all the pirates, and the instant after that, they were dragged down into the sludge, which promptly disappeared.

"If you only knew," chided the Unsmiling Man, disappearing into a portal of his own creation.


	24. Chapter XXIV: The Ship Hits The Fan

CHAPTER XXIV

THE SHIP HITS THE FAN

Kairi, Goofy and B.E.N. sat in the longboat as Sora guided the solar sails and Jim ran the engine. It wasn't a long trip up to the R.L.S. Legacy, but it gave everyone a few moments of much needed silence.

Jim stared off the back of the boat with a worried expression on his face. Silver was taken by the Unsmiling Man…so were the rest of the pirates on his crew…so what's the big deal? They weren't Jim's problem anymore…

But Jim knew that wasn't true.

"Look, I'd love to tell you that the Unsmiling Man just took those pirates to an amusement park…but they're in real trouble," Sora told Jim.

"I know, I know. They're as good as dead," Jim said, emotionless. "And that's just fine with me! They betrayed my whole crew!" He slammed his fist onto the engine, making it sputter. He regained his cool and looked back at Kairi and Goofy, who were trying not to make eye-contact with him.

"Ya know…we're gonna have to defeat them. The Unsmiling Man is going to send them back at us as heartless slaves…" Kairi tried to break it to Jim softly.

"But the good news is, we can take their hearts and find the other part of 'em called Nobodies to make 'em whole again! Isn't that right, Sora?" Goofy blurted out.

Jim looked shocked. "Didn't you hear me, dogbreath? They're already monsters…I don't care about them anyway," Jim sighed, moodily plopping down on the seat.

"Well…the offer still stands," Sora said, putting his hand on Jim's shoulder.

"We're here! We made it! Where were we going again?" B.E.N. chirped.

As Jim and Sora hoisted the longboat into the cargo hold of the Legacy, they were treated with even more of a spectacle than they had seen from outside – it was full of rich, dark woods and rustic looking machinery that none of them had ever seen before. It was quite a beautiful ship.

"Let's just get the map and get out of here," Jim said. "It should be in a coil of rope hidden down here somewhere, according to Morph."

As he said this, Morph zoomed out of his pocket and started darting around the room, very erratically. Finally, he whooshed up the ladder to the main deck and out of sight.

Sora and his friends were treading along the long, narrow girders that filled the belly of the Legacy, when they saw a sight none of them particularly enjoyed. A scaled down replica of the Unsmiling Man flew down the ladder to the belly and began to wave its arms at Jim and Sora.

"The Unsmiling Man?" Sora asked, perplexed.

"He usually only turns into things he's just seen…he must be up on the deck," Jim said gravely. "We should just grab the map and go back out before he notices us."

At that point, the Unsmiling Man replica began tossing a glowing yellow and gold orb up and down in his hand…

"What's that?" Goofy asked.

Jim bit his lip and swallowed, taking a breath before saying it. "The map."

As Jim and Sora poked their heads up from the belly of the Legacy, they looked straight ahead – sure enough, in the fore of the ship there was the Unsmiling Man, standing on a box in front of a small group of heartless. A group of strange and very unique heartless. They were all dressed as pirates, of course – wooden legs on some, eye-patches on others – but they each had their own distinguishing trait. Some had five eyes on stalks, some were giant brutes with yellow teeth, and some were covered in disgusting flaps that had odd sorts of gas passing through them.

The last pirate they noticed was the strangest of all. It caught the map that the Unsmiling Man tossed at it with two large, red pincers. It was like a giant scorpion – six red, slender legs; a head with bulging yellow eyes and dagger like teeth; and a small mane of white hair poking out from beneath his cap.

"Mr. Scroop," Jim whispered to Sora and down the ladder to Kairi and Goofy. "He's the one who killed Mr. Arrow. It was no accident. It looks like all the pirates are there, except Silver."

Suddenly, B.E.N.'s head popped up between Sora and Jim on deck.

"Okay, so what's the plan!" he babbled, causing all the pirates and the Unsmiling Man to turn and look at them.

"Well, we can rule out 'surprise attack.' Robot, when I find a memory unit for you, you'll never forget what a butt-kicking feels like…" Jim said, pushing B.E.N. down the hatch and vaulting up onto the deck. He stood side by side with Sora, scimitar and keyblade out, as Kairi and Goofy came up behind them. Kairi's flower keyblade glinted in the reflected light of Treasure Planet.

"So nice of you to make it all the way up here and save us the trouble of hunting you down. Well, I can safely say that my work is done on this world," said the Unsmiling Man, right before he snapped his fingers. In a stunning flourish, the small Legion ship that Sora and the others had seen clamp onto the Legacy came floating up into view on the side of the ship. The top hatch opened and the Unsmiling Man leaped straight into it, closing the hatch on his way down. Before turning and jetting off into space once more, the intercom on the ship crackled as the Unsmiling Man left them with some parting words:

"Now, my pirate friends, you truly know what it is like to be heartless. Goodbye, keyblade master."


	25. Chapter XXV: Before and After

CHAPTER XXV

BE-FORE AND AFT-ER

Scroop tucked the map into a pocket on his dingy black vest. The pirates began to close in on Sora, Kairi, Jim and Goofy who stood, weapons out, in the center of the ship.

Luckily, the pirates didn't seem like the heartless they usually encountered – they still behaved very much like their former selves, with the most glaring exception being the heartless insignia on their chests and their glowing, yellow eyes.

In a dash, the heartless pirates separated into groups and divided the heroes into all parts of the ship. Scroop and two smaller pirates dove down into the belly through the hatch, with Jim right on their tail.

Two lanky pirates climbed the mast to the crow's nest with incredible speed – Kairi bounded from rope to mast and back again, climbing like a cat.

On deck, four large pirates surrounded Goofy and Sora. They were holding massive sword-axes, just like the berserker nobodies did. It took all their strength to lift them over their heads, but when they came crashing down, Sora and Goofy barely had enough time to dodge out of the way. They smashed the wooden floor of the ship, creating a large hole in the deck.

Meanwhile, up in the crow's nest, Kairi was making quick work of the two heartless she had chased. They weren't very strong, but insanely quick, she soon realized. With a mighty upswing, she caught one between its five eyes, sending him into the flowing pirate flag. She was caught off-guard by the larger of the two as it zoomed between her legs, causing her to flail and nearly fall off the edge…she reached out with her keyblade and caught onto the side of the crow's nest, dangling at least one-hundred feet over the deck of the Legacy. She could see all the way down…to Sora and Goofy being surrounded by heartless…and through a hole in the floor to Jim being backed into a corner by Scroop…things weren't looking good.

Jim indeed was almost at the end of his girder when Scroop dove at him. Jim skillfully leaped onto another girder, sending Scroop into the wall. Across the belly, the two smaller heartless were pushing the button that opened the ship's bay doors…if they fell, it would be all over…

Sora cried 'fira', shooting flames all around him…but the heartless that surrounded he and Goofy were too strong to be taken down by an attack of that strength…

Kairi looked up, helplessly, at the two heartless tiptoeing over to her keyblade…like two little bullies, they poked at the keyblade, perfectly aware of how loosely Kairi was hanging on by…

Suddenly, two large laser bolts shot across the sky and connected with the two smaller heartless on the nest. They instantly vaporized as the crow's nest shattered, sending Kairi into a free fall, clenching her keyblade…but she didn't fall far – she landed on her back in a small longboat, looking up at a familiar face.

"Oh, my, oh dear, sorry if I, um, almost incarcerated…er, I mean, incinerated you. Hang on tight!" said Delbert Doppler, piloting the other longboat that Kairi had seen at the pirate's camp. "We assumed you would need backup, hence, the rescue."

Captain Amelia sat in the center of the longboat, aiming a decent sized laser cannon down at the pirates on the deck.

"No! Sora and Goofy are down there, too. So is Jim," Kairi pleaded. Amelia let the cannon down and pulled a small ray gun from her coat pocket.

"So I suppose I'll have to scale it down a bit," she said coyly. "But just a bit, mind you, just a bit." She fired off several blasts with her gun and took out two of the heartless surrounding Sora and Goofy.

"I like these odds much better," Sora said, as he sprung from the center of the deck at the first heartless. He was huge – fatter than Pete but still fast on his feet. Sora struck him with a simple one-two combo, launching him up in the air. He jumped up, spinning, and wiped him out in a few more blows. Goofy, meanwhile, was spinning wildly around the deck, missing the only other pirate on it.

Suddenly, a giant thunder shockwave landed on the head of the last remaining heartless pirate on the deck. He stood stunned for a moment, using his large battle axe like a cane to steady himself. Donald gathered energy to launch a blizzaga attack down at the pirate, which destroyed him completely.

Donald jumped down to the deck as Goofy stopped spinning next to Sora. "Sora!" he said. "What's left of da heartless?"

Sora looked visibly shocked. He had forgotten about Jim down in the belly of the ship in all the excitement of Donald, Captain Amelia and Doppler arriving. Quickly, he grabbed Donald's hand and looked at him seriously.

"There's three more in the belly. You with me?" Sora asked.

Donald smiled. "You got it!"

A blinding flash of white light burned in the minds of all on the Legacy, and as it dimmed, they could see Sora, standing on the deck.

But was he standing? No. He was floating. His clothes had become a dashing blue and white as he spun his keyblade masterfully in his hand. Donald was nowhere to be seen as Wisdom Sora dove into the belly below.

Jim held the claw inches from his throat…Scroop would cut his head off, if he let his guard down. It took all his strength to hold him off for so long, he realized. "Sora! He-" was all he managed to blurt out as the blue and white Sora dashed into sight. He held his keyblade out like a shotgun, firing white laser bolts at the two smaller heartless pirates flanking Jim and Scroop. They quickly dashed back and forth between girders as Sora slid in between them on a girder of his own. They climbed the ladder as Sora fixed his sights on Scroop with a huge firaga blast. Scroop yowled in pain and turned, claws out, to face Sora. Jim scrambled up the wall and leaped across to another girder, holding his scimitar to face Scroop.

"I like these odds, too," Jim said sharply.

Up on the deck, the two pirates were dealt with quickly – already weak from their tussle with Sora and Jim, it was child's play for Amelia and Delbert, armed with laser cannons, to blast them to smithereens. Suddenly, the deck of the ship shuddered and splintered as a red claw punched through, followed by Scroop. Jim and Sora bounded up after him, as Scroop landed near the steering wheel, facing down on Wisdom Sora, Jim, Goofy, Kairi, Amelia and Delbert. B.E.N. climbed up from the belly and genuinely wanted to know "who caused this mess!", but he was silenced by a stern look from Jim.

Up near the wheel, Scroop smiled coyly.

"What are you smiling about Scroop? Did you finally realize how funny you look?" Jim teased.

"You're pretty outnumbered, Scroop. Just give up, and maybe we'll go easy on you," Sora lied.

Scroop just kept smiling. "You know, that Ember fellow from the Legion was pretty generous…"

"Ember?" Kairi said. "So that's his name? What did he do-" but she was interrupted by Scroop.

"It's my turn to talk, girl. Yes, Ember. His safety is none of my concern, now that I've got my prize. I believe, however, that I'd much rather show you the gift, than describe it."

And he did just that. Scroop reached into his inside coat pocket and removed a small, glowing orb. About the size of a plum, it was glowing with a bright red hue. It looked majestic, full of swirling, bright light. Even between Scroop's claws, Sora could tell it was powerful.

Sora shined white brightly, for a moment, and Donald was back on deck. Sora reverted to his normal state, blue clothes gone.

"Aw, phooey! That was a waste!" Donald said, grumpily.

"What is that thing?" Sora asked, half to himself.

But Scroop, in a mockery of an answer, put the ball up to his forearm, right below his wrist. He pushed on it, as it slid seemingly into his arm, vanishing and making Scroop's forearm glow briefly.

Sora stared intently at Scroop. "Anyone here know exactly what that stuff does?"

The friends all shook their heads to indicate no. Seeing that there were no answers on the Legacy, Sora tapped his micro-com which was attached to his necklace.

After the initial buzzing and hissing subsided, Sora talked into the micro-com.

"Merlin, Cid, Mickey, is anyone out there?" hey whispered, still staring at Scroop, glowing ever brightly.

The line crackled with static, and Cloud's voice rang through, though in a soft whisper. "Sora, it's Cloud. What's up?"

"Cloud, have you ever seen a small orb, size of a plum, glows red? We just watched someone push it into their skin…any idea what it is?"

Cloud spoke immediately. "It's called Materia. Is the person that used it friend or foe?"

Sora replied, "foe."

Cloud shook his head on the other side of the micro-com. He knew that answer before he asked the question. All he managed to say to Sora before the micro-com shut off was, "That's some powerful stuff. Good luck, guys."


	26. Chapter XXVI: Materia Ghoul

CHAPTER XXVI

MATERIA GHOUL

"That's it? That's all he has to say?" Kairi sounded panicked. "What kind of advice is that?" she huffed, drawing her keyblade out into an attack stance.

Goofy and Donald did the same with their shield and wand.

Amelia loaded a large laser cannon on B.E.N.'s shoulder, then passed a small pistol to Doppler and kept two for herself.

Sora and Jim stood side by side, keyblade and scimitar nearly touching in an impressive v-shape.

Scroop finally stopped glowing, as he glowered down at the heroes. He reached his arms over his head in a strange display, as red designs drew themselves in the air around his head. They grew more and more intricate, creating a large circular portal that looked like an ancient hieroglyph, until finally, a large bolt of lava and rock came spewing downward, completely engulfing Scroop.

It happened before anyone could even realize. The lava stopped spewing long enough for Jim, Sora and the gang to see a charred pile of Scroop's remains as the small, golden globe rolled off to the side of the ship.

"Well, that was easy enough…" Sora said, ironically. It was about that time when a huge monster, nearly three-quarters the size of the ship, emerged from the portal of looping red writing. The creature had a freakishly long head, with strange coiled braids coming off the back side of it. The body was almost catlike, with a giant, strong upper torso that made it look more like a lion. The creature opened his large, black, bat-like wings as two glowing, orange eyes opened on its head. It screamed a shrill battle cry as it swooped upwards into the air, spewing lava into the abyss.

Jim glanced nervously at Sora. "Wh…what the hell is that!"

Sora looked at Kairi, Goofy and Donald for an answer, but got nothing. He tapped his micro-com, hoping for a response, but it was just as dead as it was before. Suddenly none of this mattered, as Sora was pushed out of the way of a giant lava pillar that cut through the center of the Legacy like butter.

In one shot, it evaporated the entire belly of the ship – the longboats all went up in flames, and the heroes knew it wouldn't be long until it was them as well.

The summoned creature was now flying alongside the Legacy, toying with the ship. Amelia's eyes lit up when she noticed an opportunity.

"Quickly, lads! Do as I do!" she said, running to the starboard side of the ship and grabbing a laser cannon. She hefted it to the port side and set it up next to the other ones. One by one, while dodging the occasional shriek or lava blast from the creature, the cannons all ended up on the port side of the ship.

"Doctor Doppler, a calculation, if you please?" she asked.

Doppler concentrated hard, using all his fingers to count. By the time he had used all of Sora, Goofy and Jim's fingers to count as well, he yelled out "the proper trajectory will be obtained if you start the fuses…" he hesitated… "now!"

Amelia set all of the cannons off at once, as the creature passed right in front of them, taking nearly every laser ball to the head. It shrieked in pain as it lost its flight path and drunkenly soared across the sky, trying to regain its balance. When it finally did, it was terribly wounded. They could see deep gashes on its head where the laser balls had struck…

The beast wasn't giving up though. In a last mighty effort, he hurdled at the ship at full force.

"Hang on!" Jim said, handing everyone on board a lifeline that was tied to the center mast. "He's gonna ram us!"

With its full force, the beast rammed into the side of the ship, sending it into a delirious rock. Everyone on board was thrown off guard, but Sora and Kairi seized an opportunity as the beast was close to the ship…they threw down their ropes and jumped onto the monster's back, as it flew straight up in the sky, leaving the Legacy behind in the blink of an eye.

Back on the Legacy, Jim noticed something gleaming in the corner of his eye – the map – rolling ever so close to the edge of the Legacy. The monster had smashed out the portside wall, and on the return sway, the ball was sent rolling directly toward the hole.

"The map!" Jim cried, finally gaining enough balance to let go of the rope. He ran straight for it and dove…but it rolled off the edge, diving down to the surface of Treasure Planet below. But from over his head, he saw a small white and blue blur jump over him and straight over the edge. Was Donald crazy? Jim reached out and grabbed Donald's ankle as Donald stretched his wand arm out as far as it would go and cried "magnega!" A whirlwind of magnetic energy spun in the atmosphere, as the map glided gently into the center of it. With Goofy holding onto Jim's legs, they lowered themselves enough to reclaim the map and return safely to the deck.

"Couldn't let the map go, could you?" Goofy complained, catching his breath. "You two ain't exactly light, ya know!"

"It'll be worth it when we get dat treasure!" Donald explained. "Isn't dat right, Jim?"

Jim stared up at the monster flying high above. "It better be," he said.

Kairi and Sora were hanging onto the strange braids as the creature flew erratically, trying to shake them off. Kairi started to lose her grip, sliding further back on the greasy braid. Sora reached out, calmly, and said to Kairi, "grab my hand. I've got a good grip!"

Kairi reached up to Sora, grabbing his hand tightly. Suddenly, a white light engulfed them both, flashing down so far that the Legacy could clearly see the light.

"What's goin' on up there?" B.E.N. asked. "No, I'm serious!"

The white light on the back of the creature dimmed and revealed Sora, standing alone, his feet touching the back of the monster with such certainty that one would never expect they were on the back of a monster flying a thousand miles above the surface of a planet. Sora no longer needed to hold on to the creature – he has his own gravity, a power so strong he could not only fly, but create his own pull to anything. He spun two keyblades masterfully in his hands – Kairi's Twilight Petal keyblade and his One-Eye. His clothes were a stark white, with pink pieces of trim outlined in black patterns.

"This, I like!" Sora marveled at his new form. "Let's call it…Gravity Form," he said to himself, dashing up the top of the monster's head. It was no problem, he realized…he stayed on the monster as he ran, as long as he concentrated…when he made it to the massive jaws and bulging orange eyes, he slashed several times, as the keyblades went into a drill formation, dealing massive damage to the creature. It shrieked in pain, and suddenly, the two bat wings stopped flapping. They crossed over in front of themselves, as Sora rode the dead beast down toward the surface of Treasure Planet.

As the beast passed the Legacy, Gravity Sora jumped off and landed on the deck in front of a stunned crew. They marveled as the beast disintegrated in the background and a white light consumed the ship. After it faded, Sora was back to normal and Kairi was standing next to him.

"Well…that was pretty impressive, I'll definitely give you that. But now, ladies and gentlemen, the main event," Jim said, poking the small circles and turning the circular globe like a strange Rubik's cube. Suddenly, it glowed brightly as it shot a beam of green light into the air. The beam suddenly bent, and pointed, pulsing, down toward a spot on Treasure Planet.

"Let's go get what we deserve," Jim said smiling, behind the wheel of the damaged Legacy.


	27. Chapter XXVII: Follow The Light

CHAPTER XXVII

FOLLOW THE LIGHT…

Sora, Kairi, Goofy and Donald relaxed in the aft of the ship, as they sailed close to the surface of Treasure Planet. The green beam was pulsing more and more rapidly as they followed it – surely an indication of how close they were getting.

Jim was enjoying being the captain for once, as Amelia, Doctor Doppler and B.E.N. fixed and reloaded all of the laser cannons. Morph zoomed around the ship playfully, mocking Goofy or Donald whenever it got too quiet. Sora and Kairi couldn't help but laugh when they saw a miniature Goofy hit himself in the head with his own shield.

Jim let go of the wheel as his jaw hung open. Up ahead, there was the green beam – no longer pointing straight ahead – but bent downward, at the surface of the planet. There was a large rock peninsula, pointing straight out into the middle of a craggy field of rocks. There didn't seem to be anything around, let alone treasure. As Jim eased the ship lower, they could see that the beam pointed directly at the rock platform…and it suddenly shut off. Jim smacked the orb a few times, to no avail.

"Looks like we'll have to hoof it from here," Jim pointed out.

"Right-o, then," Captain Amelia said, taking the wheel from Jim and leading them right up to the edge of the rock surface. "Off you go, then. We'll be waiting right here." She looked at Delbert and Morph.

Jim, Kairi, Sora, Donald, Goofy and B.E.N. jumped off onto the rock platform…there was nothing around. Jim dropped to his knees and surveyed the area.

"Gotta be something around here…" he said, brushing grass and dirt from the rock. "Here we go…" he said softly, revealing a small semi-circular indentation in the rock. It had the same patterns as the map, and being the quick thinker that he is, Jim speedily placed the orb in the hole.

Sure enough, it began to glow green. A projection rose up to Jim's chest level as he stood up – a massive orb, full of smaller dots – circling around in a small, green hologram field.

"What is it?" Sora asked.

"It's…it's the universe. And here's Montressor!" he said, poking a small crescent shaped moon. In front of the heroes, at the very edge of the rock platform, a huge green light split straight up to the sky. When it reached about one-hundred feet up, it spread open like a set of futuristic curtains, revealing a giant triangular window. Through the window was the large, crescent shaped moon of Montressor.

Jim stared agape at the moon. "I don't believe it…a portal…so that's how he was able to gain the loot of a thousand worlds! He would just ambush them through this portal, and come right back here!" He tapped several other worlds as he said this, changing the planet that could be seen through the portal.

"That's pretty handy…I guess…" Sora said. "Do you think that's the treasure?"

"No…there's treasure here…" he said, poking more planets. Suddenly, he looked over and remembered what B.E.N. said when they met him…

"The treasure is in the core of the planet?" he said, looking at B.E.N. "Wonder how we get to it…" he said, as a smile spread across his face. He excitedly jabbed at the spot in the hologram that looked like Treasure Planet, and then they all saw it.

The portal opened onto an enormous room, filled with piles and piles of golden rings, coins, jewels and treasure chests by the dozen. Around the room, large, electronic converters rotated, every once in a while shooting a bolt of energy onto the receptors on the core that hung suspended in the center of the circular room. The entire core was covered in gold. The entire core of the planet was the treasure. Donald's eyes turned into giant rubies as he actually started to drool.

"It's Captain Flint's Trove…the loot of a thousand worlds…" Jim said, through an enormous smile. Without thinking of anything but reaching the treasure, he and Donald dove through the portal, followed cautiously by Goofy, Kairi, B.E.N. and Sora.

When they emerged, they were all ankle deep in treasure. Gold coins flowed more freely than water, as Donald dove into a treasure chest and Jim stuffed his pockets with trinkets. Sora sifted through a small pile of rings, picking out a few impressive looking ones, when he heard Kairi's voice over his shoulder.

"Hey Sora, don't you have a few of these?" she asked holding out two small keychains. One was the same shape and design as the treasure map, and the other was a golden coin attached to a chain.

"Yeah, those are keychains. Here," he said, attaching the orb to his keyblade, making it transform into the Treasure Hunter keyblade. It was sleek and impressive, with a wide tip, glistening with rubies where the edge of the key usually was. The hilt looked like rich tapestries woven together. Kairi summoned her keyblade and similarly attached the coin to hers. As her keyblade turned into the Golden Moment, it became silver and gold with looping circular blades and a wooden handle.

They looked at their new keyblades for a moment. "Pretty neat," Kairi finally said, impressed.

Jim and B.E.N. noticed a large ship, crashed in the center of the wreckage. They climbed on, and Jim saw a large skeleton sitting in the captain's chair. It had six eye sockets and a captain's hat…just like the famous pirate Nathaniel Flint he had heard stories about as a boy. In his right hand, he clenched a piece of metal that was the same color as B.E.N… it had the same kind of wires poking out of it, too…without giving it too much thought, he wrenched it free of the skeleton's grip and pounded it onto B.E.N.'s head. It took hold, as B.E.N. went into convulsions and made strange noises for a second, and finally…

"My memory unit! Oh, you found it! Jimmy, you're the best friend I ever had! And I can finally remember all the friends I've ever had, thanks to you!" he grabbed Jim in a tight hug, as his eyes popped open wide with terror.

The core of Treasure Planet shook with what felt like a huge earthquake. Suddenly, the converters started shooting bolts of energy into the receptors faster…

"I just remembered the worst part," B.E.N. said. "Flint said that he rigged the planet to self-destruct if anyone tried to take his treasure…"

"Rigged the planet?" Jim tried to comprehend.

"That's what I said! The whole planet is one big machine, a ticking time-bomb, just waiting to go off! We have to get out of here!" he said, hopping back down into the gold piles, Jim close behind. As they made it to the center of the core, it was clear that Sora, Kairi, Goofy and Donald knew the bad news. They all dashed for the portal, as they saw the worst sight they had seen since they entered the treasure room.

A large, black portal swirled from the ground, and from it rose a large, fat, heartless. Built like a large body, the heartless was a bit strange…it had a large, white shirt with a heartless insignia on it, and both arms were giant, mechanical nightmares. They clicked and whirred as they locked in two large, metallic hands – one with five laser cannons on the fingers, and the other in the shape of a huge, gleaming battle axe. The legs were short and stubby, almost small enough to buckle under the massive weight the heartless surely had. Atop the round body sat a fat head, with a massive nose and metallic teeth with a deep rivet right in the center. His eyes were two large telescopes, zooming in and out like camera lenses, glowing red and yellow. On his head was a giant pirate hat, with the familiar logo of the pirates on the front, and a feather of some enormous creature jutting out the back.

Heartless Silver stared down at Jim, Sora and the rest of the crew. He cackled in a familiar way.

"Jimbo, do ye live in a barn? Just leavin' doors open like that…why, any old body could waltz right in…" his ugly face smiled with gleaming metal teeth as the friends pulled out their weapons and prepared for the worst.


	28. Chapter XXVIII: Silver's Gold

CHAPTER XXVIII

SILVER'S GOLD

Jim stared up at the heartless. "Mr. Silver?" he said, aloud. In a much quieter voice, he clenched his teeth and whispered to himself, "what have they done to you…"

Sora looked at Jim with concern in his eyes. "Jim…we have to destroy him…you know that…" but Jim interrupted him again.

"Goofy said…that you could make him whole again. I said I didn't care before…but…just for Silver. Can you make just Silver whole again?"

Sora nodded at Jim. They smiled and looked back at Heartless Silver, standing just inside the portal now.

Without warning, he raised his massive metallic arms and shouted "SYSTEM SHUTDOWN!", causing the room to darken. The converters that were shooting energy stopped momentarily, and kicked back in, shooting dark waves into the center of the core, missing the receptors entirely. The core shook and large cracks started forming all over it. Coins were spilling down the cracks like waterfalls…if any of them fell, they'd surely be crushed in the center…

Heartless Silver slashed downward with his battle axe, dug deep into the ground, and vaulted upward straight down at Sora and his friends. Sora and Jim parried Silver, bouncing him off in another direction, knocking him straight into the power couplers that were shooting dark waves…

They started to rejoice, thinking they had harmed Silver…but unfortunately, the waves seemed to make him larger and angrier than before. As they were absorbed into his body, his stomach grew larger and his axe became twice as wide. He swung it over his head and laughed, firing five rockets toward the friends.

"Split up!" Sora yelled, as he, Jim and Kairi ran farther from the portal and Goofy, B.E.N. and Donald ran toward it. The five rockets split – three followed Sora, two followed Goofy – as Sora gathered Jim and Kairi close to him, and Donald did the same with Goofy and B.E.N. They simultaneously called 'reflega!', and as the rockets hit the strong shields they exploded without harming any of them. Silver's arms twisted and turned again, this time revealing one large laser cannon on each arm.

"Donald, Goofy, B.E.N., get to the Legacy and go get the Barrett!" he called out, reflecting a laser beam shot out of the newly formed cannons with his keyblade. It sliced through a treasure chest and coins spilled everywhere, adding to the piles.

Donald, Goofy and B.E.N. listened, and soon they were through the portal and Jim, Sora and Kairi could see the Legacy fly off into the distance.

Silver tucked his tiny legs into his stomach – they completely disappeared, as Silver started to bounce his way around the rapidly crumbling core. It cracked and shook with each bounce and dark wave it absorbed, setting the friends off-balance more than once. Silver landed in the direct path of another wave of darkness, absorbing more. His arms shifted once more, whirring until they were each holding five barrels that each shot laser balls.

"We've got to take out the converters shooting those waves!" Jim said, diving out of the way of one laser ball and slashing another down with his scimitar. But how the heck are we supposed to get up there!"

Kairi and Sora nodded and dashed straight at each other, grabbing hands as they met – another flash of white light later, Gravity Sora stood there, whipping the Golden Moment and Treasure Hunter keyblades around his head. He vaulted upwards, bounding from one giant pillar to the next, as they sprang from the disintegrating core. When he reached the outer core of the treasure room, he jumped up and stood on the ceiling, staring down at Heartless Silver and Jim, far below on the piles of gold.

"Enough to make you kind of…dizzy…" Sora said, temporarily losing his balance. He quickly focused, driving straight ahead at the first converter and pummeling it with his blades. It quickly exploded, and the waves that were issuing forth ceased at once.

Down below, Jim and Silver were engaged in a sword fight – the last wave Silver had landed in made his arms sprout two long, thin blades. He swung them masterfully toward Jim, but he managed to parry every attack that he didn't roll under. After a few moments of this, Silver started to gasp for breath, obviously tired from all the force he had exerted. He looked around for a dark beam to absorb…but Sora had destroyed all but two…he quickly rolled upward and bounded toward one of the final beams…

Sora dealt a critical blow to the second to last converter with a powerful blizzagun attack. Ice crystals formed around the keyblades, and they themselves launched out of his hands toward the target, like two gigantic ice-tipped arrows, returning like boomerangs after they had destroyed their mark. Sora turned around and saw the final converter, hovering directly over Silver…

Silver's body engorged once more, as his arms spun and clicked until they stopped on two large, clawed hands. They reached out to grab Jim, but he swiftly hopped out of their reach. It was getting hard for Silver to move, and now that he didn't have any projectiles, it was time for some payback…

Sora concentrated as he fell from the ceiling, back down toward the gold plating that now had huge craters running along it. There wasn't much left of the core, and explosions went off left and right, scattering what remained of the treasure in all directions. A white light quickly flashed, as Sora and Kairi awkwardly hit the ground together, back in their normal state.

"Gotta work on those landings…" Kairi said to Sora, half-joking, as she brushed off her knees. They pulled out their keyblades and ran to Jim's side. They were wondering why Jim was staring behind them, but when they turned, they saw the reason – bearing straight at the portal was the Legacy, and next to that was the Barrett. The Legacy burst through the portal and hovered close to Jim, Sora and Kairi. A rope dangled down, nearly touching the surface of the core.

"Go get on the Legacy. We'll finish Silver!" Sora ordered Jim. Jim shot him a halfway dirty look, but grabbed the rope and hung on as the Legacy shot back through the portal to meet the Barrett on the planet's surface.

Sora and Kairi looked at each other, and then the engorged Silver, whose efforts to reach them with his current arms was futile. Sora and Kairi ran toward him, keyblades spinning overhead, as they began a powerful limit attack.

Sora crouched down as Kairi bounded up to his back, and stood on his shoulders. Kairi pushed off of Sora's shoulders, hovering momentarily in midair. They yelled 'KEYBLADE BUSTER!' as they pointed their keyblades at Silver, holding them with two arms each. A shimmering wave of energy shot from the tips of each keyblade, crossing just before they hit Silver – at the point they crossed, a massive explosion started, sending beams of light in all directions. The beams pierced through Silver, as he yelled in agony. When the light had dimmed, Heartless Silver was reduced to a puddle of black sludge.

Just like Sully's heartless, a white beam shot up from the puddle and it formed into a giant, silver heart. Kairi pointed her keyblade at it, and in a flourish of light, the heart was tucked safely in Kairi's heart harvester, as she landed on the ground with the grace of a cat.

The Legacy burst back through the portal as the battle concluded. Doctor Doppler hung over the side of the ship, panicked as usual.

"Get on board or be vaporized!" was the first thing he said without stuttering. Sora and Kairi grabbed onto the rope that was still dangling and rode it out of the core as explosions engulfed the room.

When they hit the planet's surface, Jim yelled down to them, "Sora! We've got to escape through the portal!"

Doppler looked at Jim as though he was mad. "You mean the portal that leads into a raging torrent of explosions?"

But Sora, on the other hand, understood exactly what he needed to do. The explosions were spreading now, causing large chunks of the fake planet to shoot upwards without any notice. The core was completely destroyed…it was only a matter of time until the entire planet blew…Sora stared ahead at the hologram of the universe…he reached his arm out as the rope got closer…

Kairi climbed all the way to the top of the Legacy and joined the crew, worrying about Sora. Suddenly, the portal behind her shut and reopened to reveal a stretch of space with absolutely no explosions. There was a small planetoid and a large crescent shaped spaceport. Sora remembered this to be Montressor, Jim's home planet. He climbed the rope to the deck, as the Barrett and the Legacy turned around and slid through the portal, explosions and flames engulfing Treasure Planet behind them.

When they emerged in the remote section of space, the Barrett landed on the deck of the Legacy. The friends all met near the wheel to say their goodbyes.

"Are you sure you don't need any help? Our friend Cid could fix this ship up just like new…" Sora offered.

"No assistance necessary, Sora, my lad," Amelia proudly rejected. "With the treasure Jim recovered from the trove, we'll be able to buy several new ships…" she bragged.

"I guess that we'll be going on our way, then," Kairi said. "We're going to miss you guys!" she said, hugging Jim tightly. Goofy, Donald and B.E.N. shared and awkward hug, as Doctor Doppler and Captain Amelia hugged warmly.

"Hey…you guys aren't going anywhere…why are you…" Jim mentally placed two and two together and slapped Doppler on the shoulder. He winked as the Doctor and Amelia both blushed a deep crimson. Morph turned into Doctor Doppler and turned his entire head red, as he flew around the ship. Everyone shared a hearty laugh as Goofy, Kairi and Donald climbed into the Barrett.

Before he left, Jim grabbed Sora on the shoulder and asked him very quietly, "please…try to make Silver whole again. He's not exactly the most honest man alive…but he's a friend. He's the closest thing to a father I've ever had."

Sora nodded, and without saying a word, hopped into the Barrett and took off into space with Amelia, Doppler, Morph, Jim and B.E.N. waving from the Legacy.

Not until they were miles away did Donald scream. "Hey! Dey forgot to pay us!"


	29. Chapter XXIX: Up Against All Odds

CHAPTER XXIX

UP AGAINST ALL ODDS

After the initial shock wore off, Cloud, Mickey, Aerith and Yuffie began to explore the massive base inside the meteor. Cautiously, they weaved in-between the small heartless crafts, making their way to the central computer. It looked as if no one had used it for a while – the keyboard was a pristine silver color that most certainly would show dirt.

Cloud immediately tapped his micro-com, staring up at the huge computer. "Hey Cid…can you hear me?"

Cid's voice shot back at him faster than he expected. "What's goin' on, Cloud? Gotten yourself into any trouble yet?"

Cloud smiled. "Sadly, none at all. We found this massive computer located in an asteroid…looks like some sort of base for heartless ships. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this sort of tech, would you?"

Cid shot his fist into the air on the other side of the micro-com, excited beyond belief. "Well, I can do ya one better. These micro-coms are designed with a special little feature. Why don't you place it on the keyboard and I'll show ya."

Cloud did as he was told, and was astonished to see the small micro-com extend four small legs, each the size of a toothpick. They clicked down on the surface of the computer, as the micro-com began to scurry back and forth over ever inch of the computer terminal. It finally found a small port, nestled into it for a few moments, and returned to the spot Cloud had placed it, as if nothing had happened. Cloud placed it back on his cloak and tapped it again, making sure it was still on.

Cid spoke first. "How'd ya like that? Took only a few seconds to upload the coordinates of the base onto my laptop! And just for good measure, I saved any files that we might find useful in the future…"

"Thanks, Cid. Glad I could help," Cloud said, rolling his eyes. Aerith and Yuffie giggled as Mickey's ears perked up.

"Shh…" he said, quieting them down. "I can hear some voices coming from that corridor…"

Mickey led the way, as Cloud, Yuffie and Aerith snooped along behind him. They entered a large corridor with rock-like walls, occasionally sporting a giant steel pillar. Obviously, this base was made in a hurry, and they didn't have time to make it fancy.

As they came around a corner, Mickey spotted a glassine window, leading out into another, smaller bay. The bay seemed to be connected to the main hangar by a large shaft over head and the small corridor they were in, but what was on the ground was far more interesting.

The Legion ship that they had followed inside, the silver one seater with the white tribal marks, had opened the hatch and out came a man dressed in the standard Legion uniform. Instead of black or silver tribal markings, there were blood red ones, and on his mask there was a flat line for a mouth punctuated with two long fangs.

As he walked into the bay, he was greeted by three more figures – each wearing the uniform, they walked up to him in an almost regal manner. The first one they saw they immediately knew as Master Maximilian, the Smiling Man that Sora had told them about. The next was in a pretty standard suit, except the mouth of the mask was in a large X shape, obviously indicative of silence. The final one was wearing a much more form fitting suit – black with purple and silver tribal markings – that showed off her very feminine physique. The Legion female and the Silent Man bowed down as Maximilian passed between them, heading straight for the Fanged Man who had exited the ship.

Instantly, he reached up and grabbed him by the throat, holding him a full foot off the ground. The Fanged Man did not struggle, but hung there, motionless.

"You know, I get no pleasure from torturing you. Being immortal kind of sucks the fun right out of it, wouldn't you say? Yet time and time again you find it necessary to screw everything up, causing this regrettable torture session to never end."

He let the Fanged Man's feet touch the ground before relaxing his grip. The Fanged Man's voice rang out with a dark timber to it. "All part of being a vampire, I suppose."

"Half-vampire, if I'm not mistaken. In fact, boy…I have it on good authority that you're not a vampire at all…but merely…an experiment. Tell me, Vincent…why do you feel the need to lie to me?"

Vincent Valentine reached up and removed his mask, tossing it to the ground.

Cloud's eyes widened. "Vincent…no…"

His black hair flowed outward, as his face was still mostly obscured by his red cloak. He stepped on the mask as it vanished beneath his foot. "Because it's easier than explaining the truth. If that's good enough for me, it should be good enough-" but Vincent was cut short by a hand gesture from Maximilian.

"Ah, my peon. I care very little about your pathetic back story. What I do care about, and I believe many other people share this feeling, is the Dark One. I captured him, you distracted me as he escaped."

"But, sir…"

"I'm far from finished. Then, I sent you after him again, but this time, he had the keyblade master on his team. So what did the scared little vampire do?"

"I…"

"I'll tell you what he did. He disappeared, as Jafar went out and attempted to slay the keyblade master himself! A second failure, of course."

"Sir, the Dark One is…"

"Wait until I finish, boy. Then, you shall have your chance to redeem yourself. Now, if those massive displays of ineptitude weren't quite enough, you were sent on a mission less than an hour ago. You have returned without what I sent you for, making this strike three."

Vincent shifted his eyes to the floor. "I was attacked by a gummi ship, sir. I had to retreat. I wouldn't have made it."

Beneath his mask, Maximilian's eyes grew wide, as he looked in all directions nervously. He heard a small, faint voice, coming from behind a glassine barrier almost one-hundred feet away…

Cloud tried his best to cover up the sound of Sora's voice as he whispered into his micro-com, which had gone off at a very inconvenient time. "It's called Materia. Is the person that used it friend or foe?"

When he heard foe, he just shook his head. "That's some powerful stuff. Good luck, guys," he managed to blurt out, as static and a shrill piercing noise rang through the corridor.

"Is that…" Aerith asked, sure of the answer.

"An alarm!" Yuffie answered, standing up and running at full tilt back toward the Fenrir 2.

In the smaller bay, the Silent Man and the Legion Woman both disappeared into a black portal in front of them, as Maximilian lifted his hand from the alarm button, wrapping it once more around Vincent's neck.

"And now, Valentine, it seems you have struck out four times. It's not enough for you to constantly fail me…but to lead the enemy into our hidden base…it is completely inexcusable!" he screamed, throwing Vincent backwards into his ship. "We shall deal with this matter at a different time. For now, attempt to help the other members in the main hangar. I've been fairly lenient with you, Valentine. Don't make me regret it more than you already have," he muttered, disappearing into a portal of his own. Vincent took a breath and ran down the corridor toward the main hangar, cursing his bad luck under his breath.

As Cloud, Mickey, Aerith and Yuffie entered the main hangar they were greeted with several unwelcome sights. Far ahead, the Fenrir 2 was covered in darkness…darkness, they soon realized, in the form of at least fifty shadow heartless crawling all over it like ants. In front of that, in the center of the hangar, two portals opened up simultaneously, and the Silent Man walked out, followed by the Legion Woman. Something was vaguely familiar about them…something Cloud couldn't put his finger on until the Silent Man finally spoke.

"Of course. The only one stupid enough to infiltrate a hidden asteroid base swarming with heartless would be you, Cloud," he said, removing his mask slowly. Leon smiled darkly at the friends, as he tossed his mask to the side and slashed it with his gunblade.

"Funny thing about masks…they lose all their value if you know whose face is behind them," Cloud said.

"Oh, but why would I need to hide myself from you, Cloud? In fact…I think you deserve another touching reunion…" he said, reaching over and grabbing the Legion Woman's mask from behind. He jerked it over her face in one fell swoop, tossing it away as it shattered on the ground.

A mane of gorgeous black hair fell down past the woman's shoulders, as her once beautiful eyes glowed a pale yellow. She looked at Cloud with no emotion in her face, as she pulled on pair of black gloves with yellow tribal marks on them.

Aerith, Cloud, Mickey and Yuffie stood stunned, staring at Leon and Tifa – both reduced to nothing but menacing, evil, heartless soldiers.


	30. Chapter XXX: The Strength Of Heart

CHAPTER XXX

THE STRENGTH OF HEART

"Your heart is still strong, Cloud," Tifa said, darkness in her voice. "When you join Leon and me in the Legion of Shadows, we'll truly be a force to be reckoned with."

"Tifa…you can't give in to the darkness…" he stuttered.

Leon laughed, slinging his gunblade over his shoulder like a rifle. "It's way too late for that, Cloud. She's not only given in…she's been consumed. She's a heartless…just like you will be."

Mickey pushed Cloud out of the way as Leon dove at him, gunblade pointing straight ahead. Aerith and Yuffie were knocked back as Tifa caught them off guard with a punch-kick combination.

"Cloud! We can't fight them! Without a heart harvester, we'll never be able to make them whole again!" Mickey pointed out, as Cloud pulled his sword out of its sheath. It hung down by his side as Leon cracked him in the head with the handle of his gunblade. Cloud went down quickly, sliding across the room and stopping only when he hit a heartless ship's wing.

"Well we can't just stand here and let them attack us, Mickey!" Cloud said, hoisting himself up with his sword. As Leon rounded on his for another attack, Cloud sidestepped him, kicking him at full force through the metallic wing of the heartless ship like a cookie cutter through dough. As Leon emerged on the other side, Yuffie was sparring with Tifa against the rocky inner wall of the base. Tifa had her pinned, and she took three strong punches at Yuffie in succession, aimed straight at her head…but Yuffie's reflexes were too quick, as she dodged all three, sending Tifa's fist into solid rock, crushing the rock into dust. Yuffie kicked Tifa backward during an opportune moment, and she flew sideways into Leon. Aerith aimed a strong blizzaga attack at them together, sending them careening into the computer terminal. Sparks flew everywhere as Leon and Tifa stood back up.

"Plenty of time for recruiting later, boys and girls. Don't worry – I'll leave you some company so you don't get lonely…" Leon said, as he opened a portal with one hand and summoned over two-thousand neoshadows with the other. They spawned everywhere – eventually, there was so little room left on the ground and on top of the ships, they started spawning on the ceiling. He disappeared through the portal as Tifa walked close behind, stopping to turn and stare at Cloud.

"Feel what it's like to be part of the darkness…a part of you has been…consumed," she said, disappearing through the portal as it closed shut. Cloud's heart immediately felt as though it was in a massive vice…darkness filled his mind with thoughts of pain…suffering…death…

Cloud was unable to stop clenching his chest…something was in his head, tormenting him…Sep…Sephi…

"Sephiroth…lives…" Cloud gasped, passing out the next instant. Mickey, Aerith and Yuffie didn't have much time to digest this particular bit of information, as they were startled by a figure approaching from behind. Mickey held his keyblade up at the dark haired man.

"Vincent," Mickey said. "We saw the whole thing. We know you're a heartless now."

Vincent said nothing. He raised a lock of his black hair from his forehead, revealing a small, but distinct heartless insignia inscribed on his forehead.

Aerith stepped closer to Vincent, who was now holding his Cerberus triple-barreled pistol out toward Mickey. "You've got some nerve, Vincent. You used to be our friend."

"Don't try that friendship crap with me, Aerith. I used to be whole. I used to be human. Well…somewhat human, at the very least. You know nothing of the pain I've been through," he criticized. "Why don't you become a mindless heartless zealot and then tell me I have some nerve."

"We can help you, Vincent. We can find your Nobody and make you whole again!" Yuffie said.

Vincent shook inwardly, fighting with himself to stay upright. His body seemed to be in pain, convulsing, tearing him away from Yuffie and Aerith and pointing his gun tightly at Mickey. His voice stammered as it defied his body.

"I…can't fight it for long…but I want your help…I…need…" he struggled. His eyes no longer glowed the standard yellow they did on most heartless…they shone through like beacons in the dark night…Vincent's true eyes. Suddenly, they blinked back to yellow and glowed brighter than ever. "I need…to eliminate the barriers that stand between myself and the Dark One. The Legion has made that priority number one."

His voice changed with his personality…going from the Vincent that Aerith and Yuffie knew to a sort of bleak, empty version. He squeezed the trigger, sending three hollow point bullets rocketing toward Mickey. Aerith used a reflera spell to block the bullets, but Vincent was already flying around the room, bounding from ship to ship, avoiding Yuffie's ninja stars.

"Didn't you listen? We can't destroy Vincent just like we couldn't destroy Tifa or Leon! Without a harvester, their hearts will be lost in limbo forever!" Mickey yelled, trying to grab Yuffie's arm.

"Look, I know Vincent's number one priority – don't fight a battle you can't win – and that goes above all else…even if he is in the stupid Legion. It seems most of the Legion members retreat if they sense defeat…so we just need to give him a run for his money!" she explained, pulling away from Mickey and running between the ships on the ground, trying to keep up with Vincent bounding overhead.

Back in the center of the room, Aerith stood over Cloud, attempting curaga magic to the best of her ability. She was a strong healer…but Cloud wasn't budging.

Mickey kept the neoshadows at bay, darting around the room like a spastic pinball. He stepped on one heartless' head, bounced to the next with a spinning keyblade overhead, finally landing in the center of a large group of them with his keyblade pointed down. The resulting shockwave of light sent the heartless in all directions, giving Mickey a little room to breathe.

Mickey held his keyblade over head and screamed 'firaga!', as billowing flames shot out in all directions, roasting the nearest heartless. He did a front flip into a hand stand, flipping and casting thundara every few feet, sending bolts of lightening through the heartless like dark conduits.

Yuffie was running at such high speeds that the ships became a blur around her. She couldn't tell if there were heartless chasing her or not – she didn't care - she just concentrated on the figure with the red tribal marks and the cloak, jumping twenty feet ahead. Vincent turned, jumping backwards now, firing his Cerberus at Yuffie repeatedly…Yuffie dodged every bullet but one, reflecting the last bullet with her ninja star in the nick of time. She used every bit of leg strength she had to jump upward and forward after Vincent…as she gained on him, she drew two ninja stars behind her head and spun, sending them both hurtling at Vincent…

Both stars connected – the first stopping Vincent in his tracks; the second sending him below, crashing into the ground. Yuffie landed next to him and launched into a set of impressive ninja moves. Vincent blocked a few of her high kicks…but she connected with a karate chop to his shoulder, turning him to jelly. She could his knees buckle as he fell to them in front of her, as her ninja stars flew gracefully back to her hands.

Vincent snapped his finger, a portal appearing on the ground in front of him. "You know me too well…" he said, and for a brief moment, Yuffie thought she saw him smile. He disappeared into the portal as Yuffie watched it close. She dashed back to Aerith and Cloud, who had just regained consciousness.

Mickey had done a phenomenal job of clearing out the heartless…there were only fifty or so left of the original thousands…he breathed rapidly as Yuffie led the way back to the Fenrir 2, fending off heartless every once in a while with Aerith's help. Cloud had a little trouble walking…but when they finally made it back to the ship, Mickey and Cloud both sat down on their beds and immediately fell asleep. Aerith and Yuffie at the controls, they took the Fenrir 2 up into the air heading for the automatic doors they had blasted through earlier.

Yuffie gave Aerith a lopsided smile, as they turned the ship around. "Aw, what the heck?" Yuffie said playfully. With one fantastic swoop, Yuffie brought the ship across the entire length of the shipyard while Aerith slashed nearly every ship to pieces from the slash turret.

"That should even the score…" Aerith said as the Fenrir 2 emerged back into space from the seemingly innocent asteroid, plotting a course for Disney Castle.


	31. Chapter XXXI: Two and Two Makes:

CHAPTER XXXI

TWO AND TWO MAKES…

Cloud and Mickey woke several hours later, feeling quite refreshed. Mickey sat up on his bed and yawned. When he realized what time it was, he looked visibly shocked.

"Whoa. That was pretty bad news back there, Cloud. I'm sorry about Tifa," he apologized.

"It doesn't matter. I lose everyone close to me…it was just a matter of time until they got Tifa. I'm a black hole, Mickey. Everyone who befriends me is putting themselves at risk," he said dryly.

"Hey, Cloud…we're your friends. Don't talk like that," said Mickey, genuine concern in his eyes.

"Besides," Aerith walked into the sleeping chambers. "We'll just have to make her whole again. It shouldn't be that tough…Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kairi are looking for the Nobodies right now!"

"Yeah…and Cloud, as far as that sad-sack crap goes, you can cut it out. You know we've got your back, so don't even try to think different," Yuffie said bluntly as she appeared behind Aerith.

Cloud said nothing as he stared deeply into the floor of the Fenrir 2. After a few moments, Mickey changed the subject.

"When we saw Vincent, he was acting really strangely…I mean, most heartless just obey their superiors…but he was acting downright rude to the Smiling Man."

"Yeah…he sounded like himself for a minute, but then the heartless side of him took over," Aerith thought out loud.

"Maybe…you can defeat being a heartless from within?" Yuffie asked.

"Well…if that is so, what would happen to their Nobody?"

Mickey got up and started pacing around the room. He tapped his micro-com, and after Cid, Merlin, and Sora all heard about Vincent, Tifa and the hangar, Mickey started to talk.

"So the question is; can being a heartless be reversed from within? I mean, that'd just leave…"

"The heart in one body and the soul in the other. Two bodies?" Sora wondered. "Would that be possible?"

"Technically, yes," Merlin chimed in. "But what happens is quite strange. I've done some research on the subject, and when a heartless defeats the darkness in their heartless state, they become something different."

"They're called 'Chasers'," Cid explained. "I got the info from Maleficent's computer. There was also a little about it on the computer in the hangar you guys found."

The line was silent for a moment after Cid stopped talking. Suddenly, when she couldn't take it anymore, Yuffie leaned into Cloud's micro-com and yelled, "so what the heck is a Chaser? Bad enough I have to remember all this other crap…"

Cloud pushed her away, rubbing his now throbbing ears.

"Calm down, little missy. Ya see, we all know the heartless are actually hearts consumed by the darkness, right?" Cid asked, lighting a cigarette. He had been trying to cut down…but Yuffie always makes him stressed out when she yelled…

Everyone mumbled 'yes'.

"Well, what it says here, is that if a heart is so strong that it can break free from the darkness while being a heartless, then it becomes a Chaser. Most heartless just attack the keyblade wielder and seek out more hearts to feed Kingdom Hearts – but Chasers are only concerned with one heart – their own. They seek to become whole…that's all it says on the subject."

"So, if Vincent broke free from the darkness while being a heartless…" Mickey pondered.

"Then he'd lead us right to his Nobody. It only makes sense," Cloud rationalized.

Everyone took a few moments to digest this information.

"Is anyone else really confused?" Yuffie blurted out.

"A little. But I trust Merlin and Cid, and I have a feeling it'll all clear up in time," Kairi chimed in, over Sora's micro-com.

Mickey nodded to himself. "Alright guys, thanks for the info. We'll be sure to keep in touch if anything else comes up."

Cid cleared his throat on the other side of the micro-com. "So…Cloud…you promised you'd bring me back the Fenrir 2 in good shape…and you've already found what you were lookin' for…"

"Gimme a break, Cid. We have to try to find Vincent. He's out there somewhere, struggling. If we can find him…maybe Merlin can help him overcome the darkness. It worked for Eddy, right?"

Eddy zoomed around in the cabin of the Barrett at the sound of his name, bumping into Goofy and Donald repeatedly.

"Yes, yes. But it would take a much stronger heart than Eddy's to break free of the darkness completely. I feel that your friend Vincent would be a perfect test subject," Merlin said.

Cloud, Aerith and Yuffie all winced. Yuffie said, "okay…but just don't use the phrase 'test subject'. Vincent wouldn't take very kindly to that sort of thing happening again…"


	32. Chapter XXXII: Interesting Locales

CHAPTER XXXII

INTERESTING LOCALES

"Only twenty minutes until we reach the World That Never Was…as long as something doesn't come up again, that is," Sora said, sipping more tea on the bridge. Kairi was sitting next to him, staring off into space in a daze. He waved his hand in front of her face and she snapped out of it, blushing.

"Oh! Sorry…I was just thinking about Vincent…"

Sora had a jealous gleam in his eye. "Yeah? What about?"

"Well…when I met him back in Radiant Garden, he was…different than how they describe him. I don't know…just much more friendly. Plus, he was chasing heartless! Why would a heartless chase his own kind?"

Sora thought about it for a minute. "Well, maybe he wasn't a heartless at that point. Or maybe he was doing a good job fighting off the darkness for a little while? It could be a lot of things…it could have even been a double cross for all we know."

Kairi took offense at the last thing Sora said. Without words, she shot him an angry look and ran off into the cabin. Sora sat in awe at his own callous words…but he didn't have long to think it over.

Up ahead, through the viewscreen he could see a giant machine made of metal rising up. It completely eclipsed the World That Never Was. It didn't look like a space ship of any sort Sora had ever seen – it was almost spherical, but it had six large arms sticking out of its center. If it was turned, it would have almost looked like a sun…excluding all the metal plates and pipelines running along the outside of it. It was easily twice as large as the meteor base King Mickey had discovered. As Sora marveled at the ship, he completely ignored the fact that it might not be friendly.

He was reminded of this fact shortly thereafter, as a large bay door opened on the ships side, facing the Barrett. It glowed with blue energy that instantly shot out and connected with the ship, engulfing it in azure light.

Sora winced, put his arms up and braced himself for impact…but nothing happened except for a little shudder. Thinking for a second that the shields Cid installed were phenomenal, he soon realized what was happening – the beam was staying on them as they were dragged closer and closer to the ship. He slammed on the ships' intercom immediately.

"Guys! We're caught in some sort of tractor beam! Get up here, quick!"

Donald and Goofy were on bridge in seconds flat, but Kairi, still mad at Sora, took her time. "What did you get us into this time, Mister Sensitive?" But she answered her own question when she looked outside. They were a mere hundred meters from the ship now…Sora grabbed the controls and tried to break free, but it was no use. All the power was cut – Donald continually pressed every weapon button to no avail – and they knew they were going to end up inside the menacing ship. Sora took the time they had and turned to his friends.

"I found these rings in Flint's Trove back on Treasure Planet. I don't know exactly what they do…" he said, handing one to Donald, one to Goofy and one to Kairi. They each examined their rings carefully. On Goofy and Sora's rings, there was an impression of a sword engulfed in flames. There was a small logo of a staff frozen in ice on Donald's ring, and on Kairi's there was a shield covered in moss.

"Dey're stat boosters! Dey make us stronger!" Donald said in his strange accent. They all slid the rings on Kairi looked back up at the ship. It was now swallowing them into the bay, and the blue light shut off as the Barrett stopped moving.

"Well, mine doesn't help me stop tractor beams…how about any of yours?" Kairi said, digging at Sora with her comment.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said, but can we deal with it later? We've got bigger problems now," Sora said flippantly.

"No kidding…" Kairi barked. She looked at Sora for a moment before she finally said, "fine."

The hatch to the Barrett opened as Kairi, Sora, Goofy and Donald jumped out.

"You stay here, okay Eddy?" Sora said, pushing the small heartless back into the Barrett. He couldn't talk…but it was very clear he wasn't happy with Sora's instructions.

The as they took their first steps away from the Barrett, they realized they were in a huge hangar. It was dark and empty, except for the Barrett. The metal door closed behind them and they knew it would be a difficult task to get out without a fight. Suddenly, things went from bad to worse as all the lights in the hangar switched on, making everything much clearer to see.

They had all wished the lights stayed off when they saw their welcome committee – in a large circle around the friends there stood six masked figures.

The was the Smiling Man from the islands, The Unsmiling Man they now knew was Ember, the Frowning Man they knew as Jafar, a man with an X for the mouth, another man with two fangs poking out of his mask's mouth, and a female figured member with a mask similar to the unsmiling Ember's. Sora and his friends knew that Leon was behind the Silent mask and Tifa was the female…but Cloud hadn't mentioned that Vincent was wearing a mask with fangs…

"Where in the universe do you think you're going, keyblade master?" cackled the Smiling Man.

"None of your business. Why should we tell you when all you do is hide behind your masks?"

"Yeah! We know that's you Jafar!" Goofy blurted out, causing all the Legion members to stare at Jafar as he removed his new mask.

"Foolish street rats…like I have already said, it matters very little to me if you know my identity. I'll still crush you beneath my heel," he purred, almost seductively.

"Yeah? Well how about your friend Ember over there? Scroop's got a pretty big mouth…" Sora said, almost smiling.

The fat Unsmiling Man looked around the room at his fellow Legion members. Jafar wasn't afraid of these fools…why should he remain hiding behind his mask? They'd surely insult him later for it…

Finally, the Unsmiling Man reached up with his massive arm and pulled off his mask, throwing it to Jafar. From beneath his mask, a pudgy face could now be seen. He shook his head as a massive amount of long, spiked brown hair fell downward. It reached all the way down to his back before it stopped. His eyes burned a bright yellow at the pupil, like every heartless…but the whites of his eyes were a strange purple…almost sickly. His crooked, fat nose was upturned, almost like a pig. He had a scar along his right cheek, deep and intimidating. When he opened his mouth to speak, he showed a set of very bright white teeth. He then began to slide off his gloves, revealing long, yellow nails as sharp as railroad spikes. They made him look almost animalistic…

"If Jafar isn't afraid of you pipsqueaks, then I'm not either," he said loudly. He was clearly overcompensating, and Sora quickly realized that he was the lowest rank of the Legion. Then, they all realized it – the amount of tribal markings on the suit reflected the person's ranking. The Smiling Man's was absolutely covered from head to toe…but Ember's suit only had the marks on the shoulders and legs.

All the Legion members were silent for a moment. Then, the Smiling Man spoke.

"You insolent, wretched excuses for servants! If your safety doesn't matter to you, that's one thing…but to jeopardize the safety of the Legion of Shadows…it is…unforgivable!" he said, lashing outward with his hands, his long axe-swords materializing in them. Tifa, Vincent and Leon stepped backward, knowing very well what was coming – in a fantastic swing, the Smiling Man swung his arms around him, hitting both Ember and Jafar with the blunt edge of his weapons, knocking them one-hundred feet into the nearest wall.

"Perhaps if you mop up this mess," he pointed at Sora and his friends, "we shall see about forgiveness."

He summoned a large portal as he entered it, Tifa, Leon and Vincent all following him. Jafar and Ember stood up, brushing the dust from their suits.

"Always on Master's bad side…" said Ember to himself.

"Master Maximilian will be most pleased when we imprison the street-rats, Ember. Do not fret…" said Jafar, reached out both hands as his staff materialized between them. Noticing Sora's confused look, he spoke again. "Your keyblade's not the only weapon that can be summoned, boy. Why, with these suits, we are host to a slew of abilities beyond compare!"

Ember seemed to lose the arrogant tone in which he spoke after his mask was removed. His voice seemed higher than it was when he spoke when it was on. He wasn't scared…but he was certainly wary… He reached outward with both hands as his two large metal sais appeared in them…as he pressed a button on each, they became more impressive, as they each sprouted two laser offshoots, making them much more formidable.

Kairi and Sora recognized the weapons from the bailey as they drew their Treasure Hunter and Golden Moment keyblades. Donald raised his staff as Goofy held his shield, preparing for the worst.


	33. Chapter XXXIII: Parting Gifts

CHAPTER XXXIII

PARTING GIFTS

"My, my, my…Ember, do you see this?" Jafar taunted.

"Yeah…four on two. That just isn't fair, is it Jafar?" Ember replied.

"Indeed it is not…let's even the odds, shall we?" Jafar said, raising his staff into the air. Instantly, a blue chain-link pattern formed around the snake head staff and spread out, forming a dome that stopped right behind Sora and Kairi and before Donald and Goofy.

"Hey! Dat's no fair!" Donald said, running into the shield and slamming his wand into it.

"Perhaps, for you, Duck. I must say, I find it quite suitable," Jafar said serenely as he began to hover over the ground. "Let's see how things work out when we are forced to play…fair."

Jafar dove toward Kairi, staff over head. With a mighty swing, he sent Kairi careening backward into the shield. When she hit, a flash of blue energy coursed through her body, sending her down to the ground. Obviously, Jafar had forgotten to mention that particular effect of the dome.

Sora didn't wait for Ember to move first – he slashed at his legs twice, but as Kairi had learned at the bailey, he was much faster than he looked. His brown hair whipped around him like a tail as he jabbed at Sora with his laser sais, nearly looping Sora with how fast he was now going. Sora regained his balance and jumped upward, hoping to do a downward slash at Ember…but as his keyblade was halfway through its arc, Ember let his sais go in midair. They hung there, as if unaffected by gravity, as Ember grabbed the keyblade and swung Sora upward into the roof of the dome, shocking him as well. As Sora limply fell to the ground, Ember reached out calmly and reclaimed his sais.

Jafar turned to Ember inside the prison as Donald and Goofy howled with rage outside. "Much easier when you divide and conquer…" he said, causing a small rip in the dome. Ember dashed out of the rip as Jafar glided after him. Once outside, Jafar sealed the dome once again, locking the unconscious Sora and Kairi inside.

Donald dove straight at Jafar, wand outstretched. Once he was within range, he shot a powerful blizzaga attack, knocking Jafar backwards into the wall. Goofy ducked down, grabbed his ankles, and did a powerful rolling somersault attack at Ember. Ember was caught off guard, but still managed to sidestep Goofy.

Jafar broke the ice crystals imprisoning him with his staff. "Use magic against the great sorcerer Jafar? I'll show you magic, duck." He raised his staff overhead and twirled it rapidly. Suddenly, a giant ball of ice formed above, jagged spikes pointing down at Donald as it plowed into him at full force…Donald was surely crushed…

Goofy stood upright, charging a shot with his stone boomerang shield…it was times like this that he wished he took the time to study magic…he only had one shot at this…and he let go. In a flash, the boomerang shield sliced through the air, straight for Ember.

Ember laughed at the futile attempt as the boomerang came his way…but the boomerang shifted, no longer aiming at Ember…it was now aiming at his sais…exactly where Goofy had wanted them to aim.

They struck his sais with a force more powerful than Ember had anticipated. They were launched from his hands with a stunning velocity as Goofy ran forward and grabbed them both, diving upwards into the air. But instead of aiming for Ember or Jafar, Goofy was concentrating at the large shard of ice in the center of the hangar…as he drove the laser sais into the ice, the heat of the lasers immediately started to melt the ice as Goofy's shield sailed back into his grip.

Sora and Kairi regained conscious at about the same time, back in the prison. They got as close to the wall without touching it as they could…another shock like that would knock them out cold again…

The ice melted around Donald as Jafar and Ember regrouped near the Barrett. Goofy pulled Donald from the ice just as an enormous bolt of lightening cracked down on the ice shard, sending Donald and Goofy reeling.

"Hey! Watch it! My sais are in there!" Ember said, reaching his hands out and summoning the sais back to him. The residual electric energy zapped him as Jafar let out a small chuckle. "It's not funny! I've got a good mind to…"

Jafar eyed him cautiously. He barked like a dog, "you've got a good mind to…what?"

Goofy and Donald, noticing a fantastic opportunity, looked at each other and nodded twice. Donald reached his arms up, backwards, and out toward Jafar as Goofy placed his shield on the ground and stood on it like a skateboard. They cried out the powerful limit attack "ROLLING THUNDER!" as Donald conjured a massive firework in the sky above Goofy – the firework situated on his back, as he aimed it at Jafar and Ember, locked in a heated discussion. Donald fired an incredible thundagun attack at the rear of the firework, filling it with energy and sending Goofy and the rocket directly at the Legion members.

As it struck them, Goofy did a fantastic sliding roll on his shield to escape the blast – colors of every variety juggled Jafar and Ember in the air, doing massive damage. As the fireworks sputtered out, Donald finished the combo with another massive thundagun as his magic was depleted. Goofy was panting by Donald's side, hoping it was over.

"I'll show you magic…" Donald panted. "My foot!"

Jafar and Ember hit the ground with a thud. They were badly beaten…but strangely enough, Jafar used his staff to stand himself up. With his last ounce of strength, he summoned another blue force field that stopped just short of him and contained both Donald and Goofy.

Ember stood up and steadied himself as he unsummoned his sais. "Why didn't you just do that in the first place?"

Jafar didn't answer him as he squeezed his fist – the two domes closed in on Sora, Kairi, Donald and Goofy…the walls got so close that they had to ball themselves up to keep from touching them…but soon it was unavoidable…they coursed with blue energy as they blacked out, Jafar's cackles in the background.


	34. Chapter XXXIV: Aboard The Nexus Machine

CHAPTER XXXIV

ABOARD THE NEXUS MACHINE

When Sora regained conciousness, he felt strange. His hands were numb…but his feet were throbbing. He realized quickly that he was hanging on a wall by his arms, clenched by ropes tied to the top of the wall. He looked left and saw Kairi in the same predicament. Goofy and Donald were the same on the right. To the left of them was a large doorway, big enough to fit a ship through. The wall on the right was peppered with posters of landscapes in various worlds. One of them, he could barely see through the dimly lit room, was of Radiant Garden before the uprising. How far away from the hangar were they? Were they even still on the ship? Sora had no idea. As Kairi, Donald and Goofy all awoke, the wall in front of them blinked on like a computer screen. The Smiling Man's visage spread across it, daring them to look.

"Welcome to the Nexus Machine, keyblade master…or masters, it would seem. The Dark One. The one you call Riku – where is he?" he asked ferociously.

"What do you want with Riku?" demanded Sora. "He hasn't done anything!"

"No…not yet, Sora. But can you honestly tell me that Riku has defeated the darkness in his heart?"

Sora's mind raced with these words…after what Cid had told him over the micro-com…if it was true, and Riku defeated the darkness…wouldn't he become a Chaser? But was Riku ever really a heartless, or was he just fused with one…? The questions all led to more questions, and Sora silenced them by screaming at the top of his lungs.

"LEAVE RIKU ALONE!" he shouted, finally giving up and collapsing, giving his entire weight to the ropes.

"Fine. Don't tell me. I won't be offended…I'll get it out of you somehow…" he said, shutting off the screen.

Kairi noticed how worked up Sora got about Riku…she tried to comfort him, but comforting someone is really hard to do when you're hanging from a wall and unable to pat them on the shoulder.

"Sora…don't worry…even if they do find Riku, he can handle himself. Besides, they'll never be able to get to him where he is…" she said, careful not to divulge any unnecessary information. As she finished talking, the large bay doors opened wide enough for a body to pass through. They stayed open, and Donald used the opportunity to peek through...he could see the Barrett! They were in a room adjacent to the hangar…if they could only break free…

The man who had walked into the containment room was the Legion member with the fangs on his mask. A single fluorescent light turned on overhead, giving a little light to the room. It was enough to see the four friends and the Legion member. The Fanged Man stepped up to the friends and spoke in a dark tone.

"I need to know where you're holding Riku. I've been instructed to do what I need to in order to get the information from you…" he said, raising a triple barreled pistol with an etching of a three-headed dog on it. "Don't let it come to this."

Kairi had a fantastic memory…but where did she recognize that gun from? She thought hard, eyes closed, as an image of Vincent flashed into her mind, running into the square in Radiant Garden. She opened her eyes and gasped out loud, eyes starting to well with tears.

"Vincent?" she said softly. "Vincent…I thought you said we'd be meeting again under more pleasant circumstances…this isn't even close…"

The words hit him as Vincent lowered the Cerberus to his side, sliding it back into a hip-holster. Apparently, Jafar and Ember hadn't taught him how to summon his weapon yet. He shook and trembled, reaching his hand out to Kairi…

"I…know…pretty lousy accommodations they got here…" he said, still coy as he fought his inner darkness. Kairi smiled weakly as she noted the feeble attempt at flirting. Vincent reached up and ripped off his mask, tossing it at Kairi's feet. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kairi looked on at Vincent, looking as though he was about to vomit, kneeling on the ground.

"I can't fight…it's getting stronger…" Vincent stood up and stopped shaking. His eyes flashed a bright yellow as he raised his Cerberus, aiming directly at Kairi's head…

He felt his mouth twinge as he pulled the trigger…as the barrel moved slightly and aimed at the rope over Kairi's right arm. The bullet pierced through the rope, and as her arm fell free, she looked at Vincent, whose eyes were momentarily green.

"Go…" he said, using his left arm to subdue his right arm that held the Cerberus. Kairi summoned her keyblade and slashed twice – severing her and Sora's ropes first and then releasing Donald and Goofy. Sora, Donald and Goofy ran straight for the Barrett as Kairi lagged behind. Walking the line between bravery and stupidity, she walked up to Vincent's side and whispered in his ear, "thank you."

He smiled for half a second as she ran off to the Barrett.

Sora at the controls and Goofy in the turret, they discussed over the intercom what they were about to do. "Just blast the door out and we'll escape! Goofy, what are you waiting for?" Sora yelled, looking up at the turret.

"Turn around, Sora!" Goofy yelled back. The hangar door was sliding open, revealing the darkness of space. Kairi pressed up against the glassine in the back of the ship, looking down at Vincent as he pressed the door override button. They didn't waste a moment as Sora took the ship up and out, heading for the World That Never Was faster than they ever had before.


	35. Chapter XXXV: Emptiness Crossing

CHAPTER XXXV

EMPTINESS CROSSING

Sora slowly landed the Barret down in the World That Never Was, as Kairi stood next to him, shivering. The last time they had been here, they remembered, was when they went toe to toe with the Organization and Xemnas. Even though they knew very well that Xemnas and his followers were long gone, they still let their minds drift into various 'what-if' scenarios…

Sora shook his head as he stiffened his brow. No, he told himself. Don't even give it another thought.

They disembarked in a familiar section of land – there were small platforms made of silver metal with grates all over them. To the right of them, Sora recognized the alley where the portal he found in Twilight Town led them into. On the left, he remembered Memory's Skyscraper. He walked up front, next to Donald, as Goofy and Kairi tailed close behind.

As Sora rounded the corner into a small district near the skyscraper, he thought of someone he hadn't thought of for almost a year…Roxas. The thought of Roxas brought on thoughts of everyone else…Namine…Axel…whatever happened to the Nobodies that were killed, he wondered? Suppose their heartless still existed…and they became a chaser…would they be doomed to search the universe for a nobody that didn't exist any longer? Or would they somehow know?

Sora's mind racing, Kairi put her hand on his shoulder, stopping the flow of ideas immediately. Sora stopped in his tracks as he looked up at the base of the skyscraper…he remembered dashing up it and battling Xemnas…

To the right of the skyscraper, there was an alley that led into the shadows. He didn't recognize it…it hadn't been there when he was in this world a year ago…

"Isn't dat where da crashed truck was, Sowwa?" Donald spat.

He instantly remembered. Of course! The truck was blocking their path…so this alley existed the whole time…he immediately gravitated toward it as the friends followed.

The alley was long and winding, but it never forked – it constantly led them through the tall buildings like a maze with a predestined finish. Kairi wouldn't put her keyblade away, though Sora had done it almost ten minutes ago.

"Sora…do you know where you're going?" Kairi asked.

"Well…we've never been down this way before. The only other way I know around here would lead us into the castle…so, unless you're dying to see Maleficent again…" Sora retorted.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" she mumbled. Her feet were getting tired with all this walking. They had walked at least two miles by this point, and they were incredibly unnerved when two shadows poked out from a dumpster.

"Halt! Who goes there!" said one of the men. He was short, squat, and wore a strange outfit – a brownish vest, white shirt with stains all over it, and tattered jeans. He wore at least two rings on each finger, and on his head was a hat that seemed too small for his head. Every time he opened his wide mouth to speak, the hat slid further back on his head, until it looked as if it was hanging on by a hair. His eyes were large ovals, with blue pupils. He didn't have an ugly face…just slightly comical. He looked almost as if someone had shoved a toad into the same outfit…

"Yeah…there goes WHO?" the other one mimicked. He was almost two full feet taller than the toad-like man beside him. He had a long, crooked nose and two beady little eyes behind a set of strange, thick spectacles. His outfit was a little sharper than his counterpart's, but it was still far from appealing. His dark purple pants were too short, showing off his knobby knees.

Sora immediately took a battle stance with his keyblade out in front of him. King Mickey hadn't mentioned anything about these guys, and he had no idea who they were working with…

"I asked you a question!" the fat one said.

"A question is what he asked! C'mon!" the skinny one copied.

"It's Sora, Kairi, Donald and Goofy," he said, cautious. Perhaps, he realized, he was intruding on their home…were there people who called the World That Never Was home? "Are…you guys Nobodies?"

The squat one's eyes bulged out of his head with offense.

"We ain't nobodies, kid!" he shouted.

"Yeah, nobodies, we ain't!"

"Haven't you ever heard of Biggs and Wedge, famous pickpockets of Emptiness Crossing?"

"Mmhmm!" said the tall one, taking a break from the copycat routine.

Sora looked at Kairi who had a stunned look on her face…were these guys for real?

"Um…not exactly…" Sora began to say, starting to feel bad for the thieves. "But wouldn't being a pickpocket and being famous kind of…contradict itself?"

Biggs looked up at Wedge, and his nose crinkled up so that it looked almost like a snout. "Well…now that you mention it, we have been having a little trouble duping anyone without them recognizing us…"

Wedge nodded silently, scratching his head.

"That ain't here nor there, kids. What are you doin' out here?" he demanded.

"Yeah, doin' what?" Wedge echoed.

"Well…actually, we were just looking for some old friends of ours…see, they got turned into heartless, and we thought maybe their nobodies would end up here…"

When Sora actually said the plan out loud, it sounded even stupider than in his head. Why would they find the nobodies here? They nobodies were only brought here by the Organization…luckily, Kairi chimed in and saved him from sounding foolish.

"We came here almost a year ago, and the nobodies that called themselves Organization XIII were running the place…it was swarming with heartless and nobodies…" she said.

Biggs and Wedge exchanged worried looks. "Kiddies, you better come to our hut and have something ta drink," Biggs said with a forced smile.

Wedge looked at him, and then at Sora. "Yeah…drink somethin' at our hut…ya better, kiddies!"

They turned and started walking further into the alley, as Sora shrugged, following them like a puppy.

Donald was the only one who didn't like the idea, as he mumbled words that sounded like 'twap' and 'dubble cwoss', following the key like he told Mickey so long ago that he would.


	36. Chapter XXXVI: Biggs and Wedge

CHAPTER XXXVI

BIGGS AND WEDGE

As they followed Biggs and Wedge through the alley, Sora and his friends noticed the path start to open up. Soon, it dumped them out into the middle of a huge square, full of small buildings. They were the same shades of blue and black as the rest of the buildings in the World That Never Was, but they were much shorter, the highest of which was only two stories. There was a large gazebo in the center of the square, with a bunch of rag-tag musicians playing something terrible in the center. Behind the gazebo were more houses, and they realized that it was a dead end. The only entrance was the alley through which they had just come.

Biggs looked up at the musicians as they passed the gazebo.

"Gettin' better, guys!" he lied. "C'mon, our hut is this way."

Wedge waggled his finger in rhythm to the musicians. "Yeah, this way is our hut. C'mon!"

They stopped in front of a small house that looked much shabbier than the rest of them. It had sections near the front windows that were actually held together with duct tape, and the door was nothing more than a piece of cardboard being held onto the hinge with twine. Biggs delicately pushed the door open and let Sora, Kairi, Donald and Goofy inside. Wedge followed, shutting the door too quickly as it ripped from the hinge and floated to the ground.

"Damn it, Wedge!" he said, pulling folding chairs from his closet. The room was small, but it reminded them of Merlin's house – definitely rustic. There was a small table in the center of the room with a large pitcher of green liquid on top of it. Around the room were several large chests and armoires, though they all looked fairly used. In opposite corners there sat two beds, one covered in a brown sheet and one with a tattered overcoat being used as a blanket. This definitely didn't seem to be one of the top places to live in the universe…but Wedge and Biggs didn't mind, so Sora and his friends said nothing about it. Biggs poured six glasses of the green beverage as they sat down around the table.

"So…not to be rude, and thanks for the drinks and all…" Sora said, sniffing the green liquid. It didn't smell half-bad… "But how come we had to come here?" He took a sip of the beverage, and it turned out to be refreshingly similar to fruit punch.

"Well, Emptiness Crossing don't take too kindly to outsiders. Last time someone new showed up, he treated us like slaves and shut us up in the city for months. But we couldn't fight him…he was just way too strong…"

"Xemnas…" Kairi said. "We know all about him. We're the ones that defeated him."

"You guys defeated him!" Biggs said, shocked. "Sorry …but that guy was fierce! Anyway, we just finished up repairing most of the damage him and his buddies caused, the last step was finally getting that wreckage out of the way so we could leave the city when we need to. Not like we'll be doing that…"

"Doing that we'll not be!" said Wedge, making everyone sigh with grief.

"Why not?" said Goofy.

"Well…come with me." Biggs said, standing up, while Wedge drained the rest of his glass. He walked over to a large tapestry with burn marks in it and pulled it aside, revealing a small staircase leading upward. As they ascended the shabby stairs, they popped out of a small hatch on the roof of the building. Biggs turned away from them and pointed up into the sky.

There it was – the castle that led them up to Kingdom Hearts. All sorts of memories flashed through the friends' minds as they stared at the familiar castle, but they stopped as they noticed the huge changes – now instead of sporting the Nobody insignia, the upside-down heart with thorns, it sported both that logo and the Heartless insignia – a heart with black, jagged rips through it. There were three towers, as they remembered – one with the Nobody logo on the left, the Heartless tower was on the right, and in the center there was a new insignia that they didn't recognize right away.

Sora had a hard time placing where he knew the shape from…just a simple looking three-pointed crown…and he realized, pulling his necklace up into view, that he was wearing it the whole time.

"Why does the castle have this on it?" he wondered, shining the crown chain in the light of the street lamps.

Biggs grabbed the chain and almost choked Sora with it. His pudgy eyes bulged with terror as he looked at it. Wedge backed up, stammering.

"You…you work for them? Where did you get that?" he said, tossing the chain away from him as if it was on fire.

"What? No! I don't even know where this came from! I've had it since I was born…it's just some trinket…"

Biggs and Wedge relaxed. "Good. Had me scared for a sec…" Biggs said.

"For a sec, scared me too!" Wedge copied yet again.

Kairi looked at Biggs and Wedge and asked, "why would that scare you? Who would he be working for?"

Biggs gave Wedge a shifty look as he stared back up to the castle.

"Well, we don't rightly know who exactly is up there…but every night, we see shooting stars land on the castle, followed by the shrieking of a dragon. We've only seen the dragon come out o' the castle once…but it was enough…"

Wedge was shivering with fear too much to copy Biggs. "Yeah…a big, black dragon that spit green fire to the heavens…so I'm sure ya can see why that'd scare us."

A loud chime rang out through the town, reverberating against all the various metals, filling their ears with noise. "Oh! We gotta get down to the gazebo. The Protectress is coming!" Biggs shot down the stairs like a pinball, Wedge at his heels. With another shrug, Sora and his friends were off after them.

The gazebo was surrounded by townsfolk moving tables and setting up stalls. Most of the buildings were residential, so it seemed the merchants only set up shop for a few hours of the day. This Protectress they heard about seemed to draw quite a crowd, so it made sense that the merchants wanted to sell their wares before she came.

Sora caught up to Biggs, who had managed to get a few inches of standing room inside the gazebo, where he opened his vest and started to sell watches and chains from his pockets. Wedge walked around the various townsfolk, but none of them turned their back on the pickpocket for a second.

"Well…we should take this opportunity to do some shopping!" Kairi said, pulling a pouch of munny from her pocket. She gave everyone a few coins and they split up, walking around to various shops, trying not to get trampled or robbed. The denizens of Emptiness Crossing were almost as strange as any they'd ever met…some had glowing green skin; some were almost humanoid, if not for the seventh eyeball; and some were short ones that resembled baby rhinos. Strange was an understatement. Kairi bought some ribbons at a small girl's stall that advertised elemental resistance. Sora picked up a couple of strength-boosting belts, and Goofy and Donald upgraded their weapons. Donald tapped his new Missile Wand on the ground as he walked, and Goofy couldn't help but laugh at the fact that it was taller than him. Goofy twirled his lightweight Mako Shield around his finger…it was light as a feather though Goofy knew it was capable of massive damage due to the aerodynamic holes all over it. They met up again on the side of the gazebo, as the bell rang twice this time, causing everyone to stop moving and stare at the alleyway. Sora and his friends tried to stop moving, but they wanted to ask Biggs who was coming down the alley to Emptiness Crossing.

Through the corner of his mouth, Sora managed to squeak at Biggs, "who is everyone waiting for?"

Biggs rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear me before? The Protectress! She keeps the dragon from coming here, and-"

"Shh!" rang out from all sides around Biggs. He shot Sora a dirty look as he turned his gaze back to the alley, to wait in silence with everyone else.

Sora, Kairi, Goofy and Donald were doing their best to keep still and not offend anyone, when the shadows in the alley stirred. Through the darkness, they could see the figure of a tall woman in black robes.

She had two, large, hornlike protrusions caused by her cape jutting over her head. Her face was white as a ghost, though it did make her dark eyes show very brightly.

The townsfolk dropped to their knees and bowed to the Protectress as she entered. She raised her arms over her head as a signal to the residents to relax, as she stepped up onto a small pedestal in front of the gazebo.

Sora, Kairi, Donald and Goofy's mouths hung open. Out of nowhere, Donald jumped up and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Maleficent!"

Every resident of Emptiness Crossing, including Biggs and Wedge, stood up and turned to stare directly at Sora, Goofy, Kairi and Donald. The hate burned through their eyes like lasers…

"Oops," said Donald, sounding much more like a sheep than a duck.


	37. Chapter XXXVII: Dead End Conversation

CHAPTER XXXVII

DEAD-END CONVERSATION

"Residents of Emptiness Crossing! Gaze upon the masters of the dragon! These four foolish intruders are the very same people who unleashed the dragon on you that fateful night!" Maleficent cried, smiling at Sora with an evil glint in her eye. "Destroy them, and destroy the problem…"

All the townsfolk looked at Sora and his friends as if they really were the dragon…they began to scream and run in all directions, taking shelter in their houses…none of them got near Sora as they ran, as if he were cursed…a plague on their city…

"No! Wait, we have nothing to do with the dragon!" Sora yelled.

"Lies! Silence the liars! Obey your Protectress!" she called out, screaming at the weak fools who were hiding in their houses.

The only two residents of Emptiness Crossing that stayed outside in the square were Biggs and Wedge. The stood in the gazebo, looking between Maleficent and Sora, an equal distance from both. Biggs pointed one of his sausage-like fingers directly at the friends.

"He has the mark of the castle on his necklace! He's got to be the dragon's master…" he said, secretly not wanting it to be true.

"The dragon's master…he's got to be." Wedge said, reaching behind him.

Biggs reached down to his side and untucked his shirt – safely hidden in his belt were two medium sized mallets, each bearing a shiny silver head. Wedge unhooked a large staff from his back and screwed a large, pointed spear to the head of it. They stood holding their weapons out, ready to defend themselves from Sora, Kairi, Goofy and Donald, the supposed dragon masters.

"No! We're not the dragon's masters!" Kairi screamed to the people in their houses. "She's the one lying! She IS the dragon!"

"Lies!" Wedge said, holding his spear tighter. "Shut up! She's the Protectress, and you're a group of filthy liars!"

"Yes…they are liars, boys. Destroy them!" Maleficent cackled.

"If she's truly your Protectress, then why won't she fight us herself?" Sora asked, directing the second half of the sentence toward Maleficent. She cringed as Biggs and Wedge turned to face her, lowering their weapons.

"That's true…we do offer our penance, Protectress…why don't you…uh…" Biggs stammered.

"Protect us!" Wedge said, slamming his spear to the ground. The curtains of the houses started to part, and Sora could see people nodding and looking at Maleficent with question in their eyes…

Maleficent looked at Sora with daggers in her eyes. "How dare you make such bold accusations, boy. Of course, I'd protect them from the dragon, should he arrive…but I'd rather not waste my energy on the likes of you…so my two most loyal servants, Boggs and Wetch, will do it for me. Isn't that right, boys?"

Biggs and Wedge looked at each other, and turned back to Maleficent. "It's Biggs."

"And Wedge."

Together, they added in a very sarcastic tone, "Protectress."

"Face it, Maleficent…you don't even know these people's names, and you claim to be their hero? People of Emptiness Crossing – Maleficent is the dragon, and I'll prove it to you!" he said, running straight for Maleficent, passing the gazebo.

She's got to turn into the dragon to protect herself…she's just got to…it'll prove her wrong, and we can defeat her once and for all…he swung his keyblade and knocked her backwards off of the pedestal. Several of the townspeople shrieked with terror while others called out encouragement…it was clear that he was tearing the fabric of this town apart, but how could he let them live under Maleficent's rule?

She slid off the wall with ease, walking back toward Sora in the center of the square. "If you think I won't defend myself in order to keep up my ruse, then you'd better think again, Sora. This city has outgrown its usefulness…I think it's time to show these people who they're truly dealing with…" she said, raising her arms to the sky.

As she grew darker and darker until she was just a void of blackness, her body began to shift. It grew taller and wider, as four large clawed feet touched the ground; a large, swishing black tail with a pointed end whipped around her backside; and a long neck reached out to the head of a monstrous dragon, filling half of the square with green flames.

All of the townsfolk closed their shutters and the sound of fifty doors locking rang through the city.

To add insult to injury, a new face had shown up as Maleficent finished transforming into a dragon – a large, fat, dog-faced creature, now wearing a too-tight Legion uniform with only one section of tribal marks, right on the belly. His buck teeth showed as he looked up at the Maleficent Dragon for a moment, then shifted his focus back on Sora and his friends.

"Aw, youse pipsqeaks again! Why can't we ever have an evil plot without you guys gettin' in the way!" Pete whined, looking back at Maleficent. The Dragon extended her two long, sleek wings overhead, completely eclipsing the square as she flew upward into the sky, heading for the castle.

Pete looked up and then back at the heroes. "Guess I'ma hafta teach youse a lesson 'bout keepin' yer noses outta our business!" The Legion outfit made Pete look almost…formidable.

Pete's description changed from 'almost formidable' to 'downright foolish' as he clenched his hands together out in front of him, as if summoning a keyblade. Instead of a keyblade, however, a large pogo stick formed in his hands.

"What? A pogo stick? Aw…I hate bein' the weakest member of the Legion…" he said, tossing his toy in a corner.

"What's the matter, Pete? Can't even get a decent weapon?" Kairi taunted.

"It ain't my fault! This stupid suit gives ya powers based on your rank in the Legion…and they won't make me a level 2 no matter how much I do! But…they'll hafta promote me once I trounce you twerps!" Pete bellowed, cracking his knuckles.

Kairi smiled. "Leave it to Pete to give us more information than we really need…" Sora, Donald and Goofy agreed.

"So, Biggs…Wedge…you gonna stick with Maleficent and Pete, the traitors who've been deceiving you for a year…or us, the ones you've known for twenty minutes?" Sora said.

Biggs looked at Wedge and nodded. They smiled at Sora as they exited the gazebo, holding their weapons out at Pete.

"Ya know, twenty minutes don't seem so short…" Biggs said.

"Yeah…don't seem so short, twenty minutes," Wedge mimicked.


	38. Chapter XXXVIII: A Trick Up The Sleeve

CHAPTER XXXVIII

A TRICK UP THE SLEEVE

"Hey! Dat's unfair…six on one!" Pete said, looking genuinely worried. "I ain't fightin' six of youse…"

Suddenly, the square became dark as the moonlight was eclipsed by the form of a giant black dragon…Maleficent was flying back over the square…keeping herself out of reach, but looming overhead, like a dark cloud…

"Well, I suppose that's good enough backup for me…" Pete said, rushing at Biggs and Wedge. He pounded the ground with his massive fists, sending a ripple of stone at the two thieves. It knocked them clear over the top of the gazebo and past it, near the other side of the square. They hadn't been expecting Pete to be so strong…neither had Sora…

"Donald! Help 'em out!" Sora said, doing a sliding dash underneath Pete's right arm. Donald ran toward Biggs and Wedge, casting curaga magic as fast as he could. Sora popped up behind Pete and launched into a lengthy combo, finally pummeling him toward Goofy as he let out a stifled whimper. Goofy jumped into the air and spiked his mako shield down at Pete, smashing him into the concrete.

Biggs and Wedge got to their feet as Pete rolled backwards into the gazebo, trying to defend himself.

"Um…Maleficent…I could use a little help…" he said, half-hoping she wouldn't hear him. But showing very clearly that she did hear him, the black dragon started spewing green flames into the square, causing Sora, Kairi, Goofy, Biggs, Wedge and Donald to back away from the gazebo where Pete stood. At that moment, a terrifying sight befell the heroes – a flash of green flame shot down at Biggs and Wedge's hut, completely engulfing it and reducing it to ashes in seconds flat.

Biggs and Wedge took a step toward the house, but it was too late…it was gone, and all they could see from the ashes were the chests and armoires, about to burn with the green flames…Biggs' eyes turned wide as he came to a realization.

"Save the weapons!" Biggs cried out, diving toward the flame with Wedge on his heels. If Donald hadn't cast a blizzara attack to give them a path through the flames, they could have caught on fire…they cared more about their belongings than their own safety…

Meanwhile, Maleficent had flown all the way back to the castle this time, no longer in sight of anyone, including Pete. He nervously looked around for any source of help, and when he realized none was coming, his rage grew as he leapt in the air, diving down at Sora.

He moved much quicker than he had before, as he launched a punching combo at Sora, knocking him backwards into Goofy. Kairi did a dizzying aerial flip and slashed at Pete's head, knocking him into one of the unburned tables around the gazebo, sending assorted pieces of jewelry flying.

In the burning house, Biggs ripped open the door to the largest armoire and started pulling out weapons – there were dozens of mallets, but he chose two huge ones, larger than the ones he normally used, with spike-tipped heads. He threw his old ones in the flame as he tucked his new hammers into his belt. Then he removed a long, silver staff with a four-pronged spear at the tip of it, and tossed it to Wedge. Wedge replaced his old, wooden spear with his new harpoon, and they left the armoire as it caught on fire.

"C'mon…c'mon…there's only two I need…" Biggs said, dodging flames and searching through treasure chests. When he found the smallest one with a bright yellow lock on it, he grabbed it and tossed it out of the house to Donald.

"Found it!" Wedge said, as he held up an even smaller one. It barely looked like a treasure chest at all – more like a tissue box – but it had a lock on it and it apparently carried something very valuable to Biggs and Wedge.

Donald's greed got the best of him once again, as he tried to open the larger of the two chests. Kairi, Goofy and Sora regrouped with Biggs, Wedge and Donald back by the gazebo, while Pete huffed and puffed in the corner, trying to regain his balance. He wasn't going down without a fight, that was for sure…

Donald, frustrated that he couldn't get the chest open, slammed it to the ground in disgust.

"No!" yelled Biggs. But the chest had splintered and opened, revealing the contents – five glowing orbs, colored red, blue, yellow, green and purple. They all looked exactly like the red orb that Scroop had used to summon Adonis back on Treasure Planet.

Pete had noticed the treasure chest from across the square, and as it cracked open to reveal the Materia, he smiled widely. "Ooh, that oughta come in handy!" he said, marching straight for them with his arms outstretched. Something was driving him to be stronger than he was a moment ago…Sora and Kairi slashed at him with their keyblades, but the most he did was wince. He never stopped moving toward Biggs and Wedge, each of them holding a few pieces of the Materia.

"Gimme it!" Pete said, not waiting for an answer. He knocked Wedge backwards as he grabbed a red and green Materia ball from Biggs' arms. The friends all ran to the opposite side of the gazebo, putting as much distance between them and Pete as possible. "Aw! What's that matter? Now dat I got some of dis Materia, you're actually afraid of me? I suppose that makes sense…da boss has told me some pretty interesting things about this stuff…"

Sora remembered what had happened to Scroop back on the R.L.S. Legacy. "You're not strong enough to use it, Pete."

But all Pete did was laugh at Sora's futile attempt to stop him as he put the red materia in his pocket and pushed the green one deep into his wrist. Just like Scroop, his arm glowed momentarily green, until it eventually stopped.

Sora felt a hand on his shoulder. Wedge was standing there, holding out a yellow materia in his right hand. "He's not strong enough to know how to use it…but you are. Here," he said, forcing the yellow materia into Sora's hands. Thinking back to Scroop and how he was obliterated by Adonis, he hesitated…but noticing Pete coming ever closer, he decided to give it a try…

As the yellow sphere dissolved into Sora's wrist, he felt a strange sensation…not a feeling of power, or strength…but a feeling of joy…like he could easily win this battle…he had no idea how, but it made him strangely confident… Assuming that this was the yellow orb's effect, he raised his keyblade up and stared Pete down.


	39. Chapter XXXIX: Shock and Awe

CHAPTER XXXIX

SHOCK AND AWE

As Pete grew nearer, Kairi, Donald and Goofy were pushed out of the square by Biggs and Wedge. "He's got some Materia on his side…we'd only get in his way," Biggs explained.

"No way! C'mon, so does Pete! He still needs our help!" Kairi protested. Wedge put his finger up to his lips, indicating for her to be quiet. She frowned and unsummoned her keyblade, crossing her arms with an angry look on her face.

Sora had stopped glowing yellow, and he knew that the materia had taken affect. He dashed at Pete, who quickly reached out and grabbed Sora by the scruff of the shirt and threw him at the gazebo. The gazebo cracked and splintered from the force with which Sora hit it…Pete was strong, but it didn't seem like the materia was giving him any special powers…

As though his mind was playing a cruel joke on him, Pete stuck his arms up in the air as he began to glow green once more…

"Great," Sora mumbled to himself. He stood up and brushed the splinters from his suit.

The sky turned light…even though it never truly seemed to be 'daytime' in Emptiness Crossing, the normal dark aura of the city was replaced with a much brighter sky. Overhead, clouds swirled as spirals popped up all over the sky…Sora caught himself looking at them in awe as he was punched in the face by Pete, sending him into the shattered remains of the gazebo. He hopped back to his feet and slashed at the ground, propelling himself upward – as he dropped down, he spun like a top, catching Pete in the whirlwind, doing massive damage to the bumbling bad-guy.

As Pete sailed away from Sora and into a steel girder over a wall, the spirals overhead turned dark. Immediately, Sora could see why the green materia was so powerful – instead of summoning a creature to fight, it was used to cast mighty spells, more powerful than any Sora had ever learned.

Kairi, Donald and Goofy looked up at the dark swirls in the sky, mouths agape. They were about to ask what was happening, when their answer came…

Giant boulders, the size of massive papaou trees, started to rain down from the sky, striking the ground and smashing the concrete to bits. Sora was hit by two boulders in a row, sending him reeling backwards into the ashes of Biggs and Wedge's house. He got up in time to dodge three more, but they were coming down too fast, striking him and badly damaging his health…

"Sora! Watch it!" Goofy called out, to no avail. Sora was hit with boulder after boulder, and soon, he wasn't even moving as the boulder rain continued around him.

Pete laughed maniacally, wiping a tear of joy from his eye. "I like this materia stuff! I'll have to bring the rest of it to Maleficent…" he said, focusing on Wedge and Biggs.

As he walked through the square, the rain of boulders split, leaving a safe path for him. He was learning how to control the spell…

Sora's motionless body lay on the ground, in a pile of crushed debris. He gasped as he regained consciousness; rolling over to look at the sky…the spell had to be over… But his fears were confirmed when he saw yet another slew of boulders hurtling toward the ground where he lay…it was going to take all of his strength to survive this impact…

Suddenly, he glowed yellow for just a brief moment just before the boulder hit the ground where he lay – when the dust cleared, Sora was no longer laying on the ground.

In fact, Sora was standing clear on the other side of the square, much to his own surprise. As Pete noticed him, still very much alive, he turned and did a charging headbutt towards Sora. At the last moment, Sora managed to dodge the attack…but not by normal means…

His body flashed with strange lines as he disappeared and reappeared a few feet away. Pete went crashing through a wall, his massive head stuck where Sora should have been standing. Sora looked at his own hands in awe of his new ability…

He knew what the materia he had used enabled him to do – it was unbelievable, but it allowed him to warp within a small area – and he liked it. As Pete pulled his head free from the wall, Sora looked up toward the sky – Pete's new rage fueled more and more boulders to hurtle downward at Sora…and even worse, the ground now shook as jagged stalagmites broke free and jabbed upward, knocking Sora upward, into an oncoming boulder.

Sora concentrated and warped ten feet out of the way of the nearest boulder, placing him right behind Pete. He launched into a volley of swings and uppercuts, knocking Pete into his own jagged rock pillars. As he struck them, the rain of boulders ceased and the spell, Sora knew, was over. It had to have consumed all of Pete's magic…leaving him open for some offensive magic of Sora's own.

He looked at Pete and then concentrated on a spot in the air above him – warping, he disappeared and ended up just where he had hoped. He aimed his keyblade down at Pete, and calling out 'blizzaga!', he expected shards of issue to shoot at Pete down below…

But he soon realized he was out of magic power…he looked down helplessly as Pete stared up, charging a massive uppercut…Sora tried to warp, anywhere…but that, too, needed magic…he fell awkwardly onto Pete's fist as it connected with a thunderous crack, sending Sora into the sky once more, like the childish street performance he had tried back in Twilight Town.

As he landed on his back near Biggs and Wedge, he could see that Pete was very dizzy, having a hard time just standing up. As Biggs, Wedge and Kairi walked past Sora and toward Pete, he couldn't keep his head up any longer…his eyes closed as he felt the restorative magic of cure start to heal him…he heard Pete's voice, cowardly as ever.

"I think I'll save dis one for another day, pipsqueaks…" he said, fingering the red materia in his pocket. He turned on his heel and ran back through the alley as Goofy and Donald lifted Sora to his feet.

Biggs and Wedge surveyed the damage…their house had burned to the ground, thanks to Maleficent, and the gazebo was smashed to bits. The concrete was torn up all around the square, and massive chunks of boulders were peppered over the landscape. It was a wreck.

Biggs shook his head as he opened the smaller treasure chest, taking out the contents and replacing them with the purple and blue materia. He handed the two small trinkets to Wedge as he hid the small lockbox in his cargo pocket, and turned to Sora and Kairi.

"Thanks for opening our eyes, kids," Biggs said, trying not to make eye contact.

"Yeah…our eyes are open…thanks…" echoed Wedge. He held out the two trinkets – one looked like a small hammer hanging from a keychain, and the other was a keychain with a spiked javelin on it. He looked at Kairi and Sora and back down to the trinkets.

"We found these eons ago…we knew they were for something called 'the keyblade'…but we never managed to get our hands on one of them. I've gotta say, it looks like a powerful weapon…maybe these will help," Biggs said, indicating them to take the keychains.

"Yeah…the keyblade kind of chooses its weilder…even though I'm sure you guys are great thieves, you couldn't steal it if you tried…" Sora said, smiling a little. "Thanks. I'm sure they'll help."

Kairi replaced the coin keychain with the javelin, turning her key into the Thieves' Honor keyblade – it was rusty looking, with a shorter than normal blade, but it had a treasure chest for the handle and three harpoons like Wedge's for the key. Sora's keyblade turned into the Darklighter as he replaced his Treasure Hunter…it looked similar to Kairi's, except the key was longer and had two glowing red prongs for the teeth.

"What are you going to do now? Do you think you'll be safe here?" Kairi asked, looking at the damage and then up to the castle.

"Maleficent and that Pete guy probably won't bother us, if you guys leave…not to be rude…" Biggs said.

"Yeah, rude, it is NOT meant to be!" Wedge mimicked.

"But, I have a feeling the citizens of The World That Never Was will respond pretty positively to the Rebellion of Emptiness Crossing…we won't stand idly by as Maleficent tries to take control, that's for sure…" Biggs said, not entirely sure of his plan.

Kairi unclipped her micro-com and handed it to Wedge. "This communicator will let you talk to anyone in our group of friends, so if you ever need help, just tap it and speak," she said, holding up a peace sign. "And if you happen to find anything out about who Maleficent's working with, let us know..."

Sora reached his hand out and shook Biggs' meaty hand. "We've gotta stick together…but for now, we need to get back to our home and check on our friend, Riku. We'll see you soon, guys."

With that, Donald, Goofy, Kairi and Sora left Emptiness Crossing, heading back through the alley toward the Barrett.

Behind them, they could hear Wedge and Biggs speaking to the townspeople from the pedestal Maleficent had been using for all those months…a rebellion was just the thing Sora and his friends needed…a whole new group of friends to ally themselves with was always a welcome addition.


	40. Chapter XL: Knights Of The Round

CHAPTER XL

KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND

Master Maximilian paced back and forth in the holding bay on the Nexus Machine. Everything was looking up, for once. The Legion was growing ever stronger, with bases in various places across the universe – The castle in Radiant Garden, which he so graciously had let Leon and Tifa take charge of; The former Organization Headquarters in the World That Never Was, which he knew Maleficent and Pete were controlling; the asteroid base in the eastern sector of the universe, which Ember, Jafar and Vincent were now overseeing, due to Vincent's inability to do it himself; and the Nexus Machine, which Maximilian himself was proud to say he commanded.

Radiant Garden had already fallen to the heartless. That was an excellent win for the Legion. He stopped by the wall of posters that Sora had seen back when he was imprisoned. When he found the Radiant Garden landscape, he scrawled a massive circle on the picture.

Maleficent had reported that the residents of Emptiness Crossing in the World That Never Was were as good as slaves, though Maximilian was always prepared for an uprising. He placed a massive question mark on the picture of the World That Never Was.

He found the picture of Monstropolis' Scream Factory and angrily slashed an 'x' on the poster. "One loss, just one loss…" he quietly said to himself. When he was forced to draw another 'x' on Treasure Planet, he sighed. "Make that two…"

A door-sized hatch opened up next to the posters with a mechanical whirring noise. Vincent walked through, and immediately bowed deeply to Maximilian.

"Master, the Legion Knights have all assembled in the meeting room…whenever you're ready, we can begin…" he said, emotionless. Ever since Sora and his friends had miraculously escaped from his clutches, Maximilian was keeping very close tabs on Vincent. He nodded and shooed Vincent from the room.

Ten minutes later, Maximilian walked into a large room, full of glassine windows facing out into the emptiness of space. The Nexus Machine was not so much a spaceship as a moving base that happened to be capable of space travel. The meeting room was sparse, save a large computer screen and a large oval table which had nearly twenty seats circling it. In the center of the table was a small hologram projector, very similar to the one Sora and Jim had seen on Treasure Planet. In fact, it was made with the same technology – when Ember had gone there, he copied the main idea of the displayer, but couldn't mimic the portal technology…the closest he could come was displaying an image of the world on the computer screen.

It worked well enough for Maximilian's purposes. Pete playfully jabbed at different planets in the projection, as the computer screen changed to show that particular world. He laughed like a small child playing in a cardboard box…up until Maximilian entered the room, his tall frame towering over the Legion Knights sitting around the table.

Vincent took his seat across from Pete as Maximilian sat in the large, ornate swiveling chair at the head of the table. Sitting to his left and right were Maleficent and a strange man that none of them had ever seen before, with the exception of Maximilian. His mask was much brighter than the others, with large, red lips and eyes that were slotted upward, like a cat's. This Strange Man had more markings on his suit then everyone except Maximilian, and he sat with his leg arrogantly crossed over his other. His hands pitched a small tent as he held them over the table, tapping them ever-so-slightly.

Maleficent's normal black robes were replaced with robes that bore the Legion's tribal markings. Her horned appendages were covered in the third-most markings.

Next down the line were the Silent Man and the only other Legion female besides Maleficent. Leon and Tifa kept their masks on, as did most of the other Legion members.

After Leon and Tifa sat the pudgy Ember, still wearing his Unsmiling Mask. Across the table from him frowned Jafar, who opted not to remove his Frowning Mask as well. Vincent and Pete were at the end of the table, and it was clear that their suits had the least amount of tribal markings.

Maximilian said nothing as he raised his hands, causing all eyes to shift to him. The doors cracked open and revealed a new Legion member, sashaying his way into the room like he owned the place. He wore a long, black toga, which barely had more golden and silver tribal markings than Pete's. His mask was strange – it only had two eyes peeking out from a large red flame that covered the entire face of the mask. The Burning Man walked up and stood by Maximilian's side.

"Our newest recruit. The Burning Man – otherwise known as Hades," Maximilian said, gesturing for the Burning Man to head down the table.

"That's Hades, Lord of the Underworld…just keep that straight, okay?" he said to the Legion Knights, passing by Jafar. Noting that they were not amused, he chuckled and added, "hey! I'm just kidding…sheesh…"

"Move you slovenly oaf," Maximilian said, as Hades stood behind Pete's chair.

The room was silent as Pete stared into the hologram, still amazed by its pretty green glow. When he felt the dagger eyes of everyone in the room staring at him, he looked up sheepishly at Maximilian. "Uh…who, me?" he said, knowing the answer.

"NOW!" Maximilian's judgment was never clearer. If ever anyone questioned his authority in the Legion, that cry removed all doubt. Pete quickly jumped over a seat, relinquishing his position to the newcomer. In a flash, some of Pete's tribal markings disappeared as Hades' robe became slightly more decorated.

"Last time I do you any favors, ya jerk…" Pete said, remembering when he had worked with Hades in the underworld during Sora's last journey.

"Hey, them's the breaks, kid," Hades said, turning his attention back to Maximilian, who had once again raised his hands over his head.

"This intimidating figure to my left is also a relatively new recruit, though his track record is sparkling. Why, this fantastic example of darkness has more than proven just how ruthless he can be… You will refer to him as the Strange Man, at his request."

Everyone looked at the Strange Man as he barely shifted his fingers, resting his elbows on the table.

"Now that our new Knights have settled in, we'll get down to business. The Dark One's location has been hinted at by the girl, Kairi. Play back the tape!" he said, as the speaker system crackled on. Soon, the voice of Kairi rang out through the meeting room.

"Sora…don't worry…even if they do find Riku, he can handle himself. Besides, they'll never be able to get to him where he is…"

It played twice and then shut off. Maximilian tapped his fingers on the table, looking at the Knights as they remained motionless. Maleficent cleared her throat.

"Yes, Maleficent?" said Maximilian.

"Master Maximilian…the place of which the girl speaks is certainly Disney Castle. They posses the Cornerstone of Light, which prevents the darkness from entering the castle…surely if that wretched Mouse is still on their side, they've taken advantage of his protection. In fact, a faction of heartless space vessels were destroyed quite near Disney Castle right after the Battle of Radiant Garden…" she said, her eyes darting around the room at the rest of the Legion Knights. She was quite pleased to be able to help her master with such a fitting piece of information.

Maximilian's ever Smiling Mask for once revealed his true emotions. "Good, very good. Thank you, Maleficent…you are a wonderful informant…"

In his computer room based in Disney Castle, Cid was accessing the audio files of each of the computers he had integrated into his laptop…the computer that Cloud had linked him to on the asteroid base was full of revealing audio recordings…it seemed that they left the recording devices in their bases on as a defense…but in this circumstance, Cid had turned it around to be very much to his advantage.

He smiled as he lit another cigarette. "They can't be that dumb…" he said, as he heard Maximilian tell Maleficent that she was a wonderful informant. "But I've been wrong before…" he muttered, as he jogged from the computer room to alert Merlin and the other friends.


	41. Chapter XLI: Information Super Highway

CHAPTER XLI

THE INFORMATION SUPER HIGHWAY

The Fenrir 2 landed at Disney Castle nearly two hours before the Barrett. As Sora, Kairi, Goofy, Donald and Eddy left the ship, they entered the square and were amazed at how far it had come. Now, instead of just rudimentary shops all over the courtyard, there were actually buildings, some of which had two or more stories. There was a hotel and several residential buildings, and Disney Castle looked even more like 'home' than ever.

But it wasn't the Destiny Islands…Sora shook his head as the thought escaped from it. There was no use feeling sorry for things he couldn't help…

Sora caught Cloud's eye and they met each other by the Moogle synthesis workshop. They gave each other a hearty handshake and smiled.

"Glad to see you're alright," Cloud said.

"You too. And I bet Cid's glad you didn't blow up the Fenrir 2…" they laughed for a moment, enjoying the downtime.

A massive speaker on a flagpole near the center of town hissed with static as Cid's voice rang through it. "Crews of the Barrett and the Fenrir 2, meet up in the Hall of the Cornerstone as soon as you've settled…" he said, and Sora and his friends headed straight for the hall.

The Cornerstone of Light was still there, but it was now encased in a large, metallic archway. The archway had chambers of glass in three places that pulsed with the same greenish energy that the cornerstone shone with. It seemed to make the cornerstone pulse more rapidly. Other than the pulsing archway, the only other difference was the large rectangular table behind the cornerstone. It had twenty comfortable looking chairs around it, and a replica of King Mickey's throne at the head of the table. King Mickey was already sitting in his throne, talking to Cid, who sat next to him. His open laptop on the table was the topic of their discussion, but as they noticed Sora, Cloud and the others start to trickle in, they motioned for them to sit at the table.

After only five minutes, the table was full – at the head sat King Mickey, and on his left and right were Cid and Merlin. Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud and Sora sat towards the middle as Kairi, Goofy and Donald sat at the end. Sora and Kairi explained most of what had happened since the last time they talked to everyone in the room. Eddy flew around near the door to Timeless River contentedly as Cid shut his laptop.

"Hey King Mickey…where's Riku?" Sora asked. "How did the testing go?"

"Hold on, kiddo. Mickey's got a lot of news to get through, and Riku's just a part of it. King Mickey, whenever you're ready…" Cid said, pressing a button on his laptop that made a large projector screen lower from the ceiling. He connected a wire to his computer, and the screen showed a large blueprint of a circular spaceship with arms jutting out from it.

"The Nexus Machine," Mickey said somberly. "I'm sure you guys know of it…it's the ship you were held captive on right before you made it to Emptiness Crossing."

Kairi, Donald, Goofy and Sora nodded.

"Cid's been hard at work trying to uncover any information about the Legion's plans from the computers we've found. By creating a direct link, Cid can now access the Legion computers from his…but there's a whole bunch of passwords that keep holding us up. Luckily, we have managed to hack past a few and find out a great deal about the Legion."

Mickey rose from his chair as he paced around the room.

"The first and foremost thing about the Legion is that they're after Riku. Oh, that reminds me…" he said, dashing up the stairs to the Castle's library.

Sora looked at Kairi in disbelief. "Gee, you think? We knew that when that Smiling Man came through the portal and kidnapped him…" he said, sarcastically.

"Shh! Don't you think Mickey and Cid know what they're talking about?" she snapped under her breath. "Just be patient!"

King Mickey came back down the stairs, followed by Riku. He looked pretty much the same as always, though there were bandages all over his arms where Merlin and Cid had drawn blood for the tests.

"Good as new," Riku said, smiling at Sora and Kairi. They contained themselves as Riku sat across the table from them, his full attention on Mickey.

"Now, as I was saying…the Legion's after Riku…they have him marked in their database as 'The Dark One'," Mickey explained.

Sora thought back to what the Smiling Man had said to him back on the Nexus Machine. "The leader said something about Riku having not defeated the darkness in his heart…but he's crazy…we know Riku has…" he said, trailing off as Riku interrupted.

"He was right, Sora. I haven't defeated it…" he said, staring at the table. "I've just managed to control it. The darkness is still there…I know it."

Sora's mouth hung open in awe. "But…Riku, we watched you change back from Ansem's form to your old self!"

Riku got angry. "And did you actually see my heart become whole? Did you see the darkness leave my body, Sora? Did you? All you saw was my body change back to normal…that's nothing. My heart was changed very little when DiZ sacrificed himself…"

Mickey cleared his throat loudly. "Calm down, you two…I'm trying to explain, and we'll be here all day if you keep interrupting."

Sora and Riku sat back in their chairs, paying full attention to Mickey as he sat back down next to Cid. The image of the Nexus Machine's blueprints changed into a screen with a full body picture of The Smiling Man in his Legion outfit. Next to him was a large readout that stated 'LEVEL 5'.

"The Smiling Man. He's the only Level 5, so we've gotta assume he's the leader. We believe this to be Maximilian. His axe-swords are almost identical to those that Maximilian used when Merlin met him before the keyholes were opened," Mickey said. The image changed again to a man in a suit similar to the Smiling Man's, though the face bore a set of bright red lips and his eyes were nothing more than slits.

"The Strange Man, according to the computer. We have no idea who this could be…though he seems to be Maximilian's right hand man. He's a level four." The screen changed again to reveal Maleficent, in her Legion robes.

"We all know Maleficent…" Mickey said bitterly. "Seems she's allied herself with the Legion…I guess after her spat with the Organization, she wants to be on the inside this time around… She's another level four."

The image changed again, as Cid lit a cigarette. Merlin shook his wand at the cigarette as it promptly exploded in Cid's face, leaving a large black smudge. Cid angrily crossed his arms and stared at the computer screen, biting his lip. Two members of the Legion showed up on the screen – the Silent Man and a female in a Legion outfit.

"This is Tifa and Leon…we had to fight them in the asteroid base. They're really strong, even though they're only level threes. These two are also level threes…I believe you ran into these guys on the Nexus Machine, Sora…" he said, as the screen blinked and showed Jafar in his Frowning Mask. Next to show up was the pudgy Ember, still hiding behind his Unsmiling Mask.

The next picture showed a large 'LEVEL 2' next to a heavier man in a black toga. "The Burning Man, as you can tell by his mask. I'll bet anything that its Hades…he's always got to be right in the middle of any kind of trouble…" Mickey trailed off as the next picture showed a man with blood red tribal markings and a mask that had two fangs coming from the mouth.

"Vincent…" Kairi said, staring at the image.

"Or the Fanged Man, as he's known in the Legion. He's also a level two…but it shows he was recently demoted for 'incompetence'," Mickey said.

Kairi thought about how he had saved them all on the Nexus Machine and she smiled. The final image to pop up on the screen was that of Pete, wearing a Legion outfit that was too small around his stomach. His belly-button poked out as if gasping for air. Next to him in large letters was written 'LEVEL 1'.

"That's a surprise…" Goofy said. Donald and Yuffie chuckled.


	42. Chapter XLII: More To Learn?

CHAPTER XLII

MORE TO LEARN?

Mickey settled Goofy, Donald and Yuffie down as the screen changed again, showing just the Legion uniform with no one inside. It was shown from several angles with scribbles in a strange handwriting none of them could read.

"This is the uniform of the Legion Knight. Everyone we've just seen makes up the Legion, and they're all issued them as soon as they join forces with Maximilian. These suits are really strange. They have powers beyond any accessory or armor you've ever equipped…we've discovered that the suit also has a defense mechanism to protect the wearer from the Dark One…" Mickey said, once again pacing under the screen.

"That's why I couldn't summon my keyblade around Jafar or Maximilian, remember?" Riku asked Sora and Kairi. They nodded, though Kairi asked, "but why did it weaken you like that?"

Riku shrugged as Merlin chimed in. "All part of the defense mechanism…the suit can't actually stop Riku from summoning his keyblade…it just puts him in a great deal of pain when he tries, making him choose to stop…it's quite a bit of technology…" Merlin said, surprising everyone in the room with his last statement. "Well, I must give credit where credit is due…"

"On top of that effect, it also raises the strength and magic power of the wearer…" Mickey went on. "The next bit is important, so pay attention."

The screen changed to one which had six large images in a circle formation. Each object was different, but they all seemed to be artifacts of some sort. The artifacts were shaped like small animals, each of which was made of a strange bronze material.

From the top of the circle, Sora looked at each of the artifacts closely – an eagle with a large sun etched in its belly; an eel with an ice crystal on its head; an butterfly bearing a tornado shaped gust of wind on its wings; a tiger marked with a large lightening bolt on its back; a small lizard with a flame on its tail; and a large bear marked with a boulder.

In the center of the circle was a picture of an eclipsed sun, and directly below that was an image of Riku.

Noting the confused look on everyone's faces, Merlin stood up and walked to the screen, extending his wand into a long pointer.

"The Artifacts of Solace…in the distant past, these items were forged by shamans and wizards across the universe, before the ties between the worlds were broken. They were imbued with the powers of each of their respective civilizations, each with a different outlook on life," Merlin said slowly.

"The civilization that valued power worshipped the Flame Salamander…speed was an attribute of the Wind Butterfly…defense was valued by all worshippers of the Boulder Bear…magic was the most important feature to those who revered the Frozen Eel…and those who prayed to the Thunder Tiger were happy just with the time they were given to exist…" he pushed on, trying to keep everyone with him.

"The last group to forge an artifact was the Eagles of Light. Their views were only brought on by the existence of the final group…the Dark Ones. The forging of the ancient artifacts was essentially the signing of a universal pact – the Pact of Solace. This pact prevented any one attribute from growing too powerful…but also prevented any of them from growing too weak, by drawing powers from one and giving to another. It was sort of an equalizer."

"However, the forgers didn't want to include the Dark Ones in the pact…they weren't allowed to imbue an artifact with their power, and thusly were doomed to grow weaker and weaker as their following dwindled. But unbeknownst to the rest of the forgers, the leader of the Dark Ones did imbue their powers in an artifact…just not one forged from bronze…"

Everyone's heads began to swim with all the new information they had just acquired. Finally, Aerith spoke. "So…what's the final artifact?"

Merlin stared at Riku. "The leader of the Dark Ones imbued the power of darkness unto his son, Xarrakesh. Xarrakesh was a foolish man who knew very well of his power and tried to begin an army of darkness…though only one of his sons was still alive when Xarrakesh died…"

"His only surviving son's name was Xehanort."

"Xehanort didn't survive by chance, however…on his father's deathbed, he swore he would live on and father another son to carry on the dark power…but after Xarrakesh died, Xehanort killed his three brothers…leaving only him to carry on the legacy of the Dark Ones. Since the Pact of Solace's purpose was to maintain balance between the forces, it did just that – many people worshipped the power of the Fire Salamander, so the power was split up amongst those followers…the same for the Frozen Eel and so on…" Merlin continued on, the room hanging on his every word.

"But as the followers of the Dark One were destroyed by Xehanort, he soon became the only worshipper of the darkness. So, he was imbued with the equivalent strength of all of the other groups…and he began to destroy them, one by one, so as not to disturb the gentle balance of power between the elements…at that point in time, things get a bit hazy. We know that eventually, the artifacts were separated out, amongst the universe. No one can say they lay claim to one particular tribe any longer…except the descendant of the leader of the Dark Ones…"

"Riku…you've fused with Xehanort…and now that he has died, both Nobody and Heartless, you're the sole carrier of the ancient power of the Dark Ones. The other artifacts lie dormant, now that their followers have been slain by Xehanort…but the Dark Ones power lives on in Riku…if the seven artifacts are gathered together, the balance of power would be off…there's not any information on what would happen…but I have a feeling Maximilian has done his research and he has a few more ideas on the subject than we do," Merlin summed up.

A collective sigh echoed through the room, as Eddy clumsily bumped into the Cornerstone of Light.

"That's why Maximilian wants Riku…something of this magnitude could easily destroy the universe…or at the very least, destroy Riku…" Mickey said sadly.

Riku stood up from his seat, hatred pouring from his face. A single tear broke from his blue eye, as he said, "I hate Xehanort, your majesty. I'll do whatever I have to…in order to make this end."

"Well, that sends us into the next bit of news we've got…" Mickey said, drawing everyone's attention to the strange contraption positioned over the Cornerstone. "This thing…well, I'll let Cid explain it…"

"Heh…this thing is basically an amplifier – it stops all heartless and their vessels from coming near the world. The closest that the Nexus Machine could get is fifty miles from the surface…so Disney Castle is officially the safest place in the universe," Cid said. "That being said, I don't think it's a good idea for Riku to stay here, where the Legion knows where he is. The Cornerstone Amplifier is powerful…but the Legion won't stop until they find Riku, and if they bombarded the planet…"

"You're right, Cid," Mickey approved. "Sora, you're gonna take Riku with you to the next world you go to."

"Okay!" Sora said, very glad to be reunited with Riku once again. He hesitated and looked back at King Mickey. "Where are you sending us now? To find the Nobodies?" Sora asked excitedly.

"We still don't have any leads as to where they might be. Biggs and Wedge promised to keep an eye out in the World That Never Was, so that's a plus…but right now, the most important thing is getting the Artifacts of Solace before the Legion. I know they can't do anything without Riku…but if they have the six statues, it'll be much easier for them than if we beat 'em to the punch," Mickey explained. "I think that pretty much explains everything up to this point…any questions?"

Yuffie's hand shot up in the air like a dart, but Aerith just grabbed it and held it back down…


	43. Chapter XLIII: Takeoff and Landing

CHAPTER XLIII

TAKEOFF AND LANDING

As Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Cloud, Cid and Riku gathered in the hangar to meet Mickey, they noticed something strange about the gummi ships – the Barrett seemed a bit bigger, with an extra weapon on the left side of the ship and a much larger cockpit. The Fenrir 2, on the other hand, looked like it was reduced to a three-man fighter with minimal weaponry.

"Had Chip 'n Dale work on the gummi ships during the meeting…the little one is a modification of the Fenrir 2…I call it the Fenretto. I used most of the parts from the Fenretto to augment the Barrett – it now has room for six, seven passengers if you really push it. You're gonna need to keep the Legion guessing where Riku is for now…so we needed to give you a little extra room on board," Cid said.

King Mickey stepped up past Cid and shook Sora's hand. "Good luck. We've already set the autopilot on the Barrett to take you to your next destination – it's the last known location of the Wind Butterfly artifact. We can only hope that the Legion hasn't gotten to the artifacts already…" Mickey walked over to Riku, who was wrapping his arms in white tape to cover the bandages. "And Riku…I know this is going to sound stupid…but try to stay out of trouble, okay? You can't summon your keyblade near any Legion Knights…remember that…" he said, slipping a small keychain to Riku as he walked away.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi and Riku all jumped aboard the Barrett and waved good bye to Cloud and Cid.

"Bye Cloud…try not to get in any trouble…" Kairi said, smiling.

"How could I ever dream of that?" Cloud said, as Cid smacked him in the back of the head. The Barrett took off, flying via the autopilot toward their next destination.

As they watched Disney Castle become a tiny speck through the glassine windows, they kept their eyes out for the Nexus Machine…but they were lucky enough not to see it on this particular occasion.

Riku examined the keychain in the sleeping quarters of the Barrett…it had a strange crown insignia on it, much like the crown that Sora wore around his necklace…it was trimmed in gold and had a small picture of Mickey's head in the center. As he clipped it on his keyblade, the Way to the Dawn was replaced by the Dawn of Kings…a long, silver blade that swooped into a jagged crown shaped set of teeth. The handle was black with gold trim…Riku swung it around playfully as he thoroughly enjoyed the gift from Mickey.

"Guys, we're about to land…" Sora's voice said over the ship's intercom. Riku gathered himself up and met Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi and little Eddy on the bridge of the Barrett.

"So where are we?" Riku said, peering through the ships viewscreen. They started to descend on a world with a large tree in the center of it. The tree was surrounded by tall grass and grains, forming a large, green island in the center of a dried out riverbed. The dusty riverbed was cracked from one side to the other…it certainly didn't look pleasant.

As they got closer to the world, they began to feel strange…as if they were going through some strange force field…it made them all shiver, but they paid no mind as they concentrated on the world's strange surface. As they disembarked the ship, they noticed that the blades of grass looked more like trees…the tree that they had seen from above was absolutely massive, now…Sora turned to ask Kairi a question, but he was shocked to see a dainty-looking bumblebee where she had been standing.

"Whoa…guess this place is like the Pridelands, huh Goofy?" Sora said, looked over at Goofy and Donald. Goofy had been transformed into a lanky type of stick-bug, with brown skin that made him look a bit like a twig. He had four spindly arms sticking out of his midsection. Donald had been turned in a tiny ladybug with a red shell, though his face still had a beak, making him look quite odd indeed. Sora had changed into a light blue ant, while Riku was nearly red. Riku's antennae were longer than Sora's, which stood out at odd angles from his head.

"What happened to us?" Kairi said, more interested than shocked.

"Don't worry…it only lasts while we're in this world. We get turned into fish when we visit Ariel under the sea…so we must be in some kind of bug-village. Pretty fitting…" said Sora, remembering that they were here to claim the Wind Butterfly before the Legion had the chance.


	44. Chapter XLIV: For Pete's Sake

CHAPTER XLIV

FOR PETE'S SAKE

Riku looked at his spindly ant arms and crossed them angrily. "I don't like it."

"Well, you're going to have to deal with it until we get the Wind Butterfly…" Sora said back. Through the tall grass, Sora was able to see a large clearing of brown sand. As they pushed their way through the blades of grass, it became clear what they were truly looking at – a massive anthill stood to their left. It was positioned directly below the gigantic tree, and the tree's roots grew out of the ground in strange places around its base. A tall tower of rocks were placed on a cliff, facing directly out into the sun. Sora and the rest could see a large leaf, easily bigger than the Barrett was now, placed on top of the rocks. On the leaf was a mountain of various foods; seeds, grains, raspberries…it all looked like quite a feast.

"Gawrsh…lookit all that food!" Goofy said, aimlessly walking toward the leaf.

"Goofy…stay away from it…" Kairi warned, as the grass behind them rustled and they heard a frantic voice coming towards them…

Suddenly, a blue ant with big, bulging eyes popped out of the grass by Goofy. He was wearing a strange outfit – a hat and long, coiled backpack, both made from blades of grass. Hollowed out seeds and nuts hung from his pack, which seemed to weigh more than his entire little frame.

"Get the food to the offering…get the…AHH!" the twitchy ant screamed upon noticing the friends. He dropped the few seeds he was carrying as he backed up cautiously. "Who…who are you? What do you want? Don't touch that!" he screamed, seemingly all at once, as he noticed Goofy getting closer to the food. Goofy turned around and rejoined Riku, Sora, Kairi and Donald in the center of the clearing.

"Hey…calm down…we're friendly. We won't touch your food," Kairi explained to the ant.

Sora introduced himself and his friends. "What's your name?"

"Flik…" he was cut off as a small, purple ant popped her out of the anthill. She wore a short, green crown that was specked with red dots.

"Flik! Get in the anthill! The grasshoppers are coming!" the purple ant cried.

"Coming, Princess Atta! Look, fellas, if you guys don't like being trampled by grasshoppers, follow me!" he said, rushing straight for the anthill as Atta disappeared below. But before they could reach the anthill, a strange, black portal swirled open on the ground in front of the anthill…

Pete's body barely squeezed through the portal as he stood up, blocking the heroes from entering the anthill. He hadn't changed at all – the Legion uniform kept his body from being turned into a bug like everyone else.

"Hey! How come he didn't change!" Donald quacked, even more outraged than when he first realized he was a ladybug.

"He's already a slug," Riku said shaking a fist, unable to draw his new keyblade.

"Yeah…hey, Pete? How come the Legion keeps sending a level one to do all the dirty work?" Sora taunted him, holding out his Darklighter.

Pete looked at the friends and did a double take. After blinking for a few moments, he finally realized that Sora and his friends had changed forms.

"Bugs? What am I supposed to do with a bunch of bugs?" Pete said, only stopping when he realized that the Legion outfit only kept his form, and not his size. He was no bigger than Goofy in this world. "Well…I guess I gotta try somethin'…" he said, snapping his fingers. Instantly, a portal of black sludge opened up at the feet of Flik. He was being dragged downward by the same tendrils of darkness that they had seen on Treasure Planet…

"Flik!" Kairi yelled, darting over to help him. She tried to hoist him out of the hole…but it was too late…he was sucked down as the hole closed. Pete was laughing so hard that his shirt slid a few more inches up his bulbous stomach.

"He might not be the strongest guy here…but he'll make a good heartless…after all, ain't it about love and hearts and all dat teddy-bear crap? I never understood all of it anyway…" Pete began to mumble.

"Shocking," Sora said, diving at Pete with his keyblade. Pete did a quick backhanded punch and sent Sora into the side of the anthill.

"I don't got time for dis…I got myself a prisoner ta turn into a heartless!" he said, snapping his fingers as a portal appeared at his feet, causing him to awkwardly disappear as over one-hundred new heartless formed in the clearing.

Most of the heartless were smaller than Sora and his friends, but not by much. About half of them were shaped like bees, with long, jagged stingers and flashy yellow wings draped over their normal black bodies. Between the rest of them there was a mix of larger beetle shaped heartless with heavily armored backsides, tall ones that resembled black praying mantises with sharp, metallic claws, and small, hairy ones that jumped around like fleas.

"They heard Princess Atta's voice ring up from below in the anthill. "C'mon! C'mon…they'll be here any minute! Bring your friends if you have to!" she yelled, still not explaining to them what exactly 'they' were.

Sora and Riku had no problem learning how to fight in their new forms…they walked on two legs and had normal arms. Their keyblades seemed to slice through the air with greater ease…it seemed their proportionate strength in this form made them a great deal faster. They sliced through about twenty of the jumping fleas for practice as they really got the hang of things.

Kairi and Donald were having a terrible time. On the ground, they were awkward and couldn't walk very directly. Kairi tried to run straight at a dung beetle, but she veered off to the left and smacked into Donald without even trying. They soon realized that it was much easier to hover over the ground with their wings. They flew past the beetles, as Donald cast 'stopra!', making them freeze for a few precious seconds. Kairi buzzed from one to the next, slashing through them with her Thieves Honor keyblade. Donald dispatched the rest of them with a few swings of his staff.

Goofy's four long arms were putting him at a distinct advantage against the tall, praying mantis heartless. He was swinging them around his body twice as fast, knocking them backwards as Sora and Riku mopped them up, slashing them up into the air like baseball players. Kairi and Donald stood back and aimed several blizzard attacks at the heartless, shattering almost every last one in the air.

As the final heartless regrouped near the base of the pile of food, Goofy charged a massive shot with his shield…forgetting that he had more strength in the charge from his extra arms, he fired…surely enough, the shield sailed through the heartless, destroying them with quickness…

But the shield didn't slow down…not until it smashed into the base of the rock pillar holding up the leaf…the pile tilted as the seeds poured down into the chasm below, finally landing in a small pool of water. As the last of the food disappeared below, a loud humming noise filled their ears. Assuming that this was the 'they' Atta was referring to, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy all headed straight for the anthill and dove below, meeting Princess Atta in a large underground chamber.


	45. Chapter XLV: You Did What?

CHAPTER XLV

YOU DID WHAT?

"Where's Flik?" Atta said immediately, looking back up through the hole to the sky. "You forgot him!"

Sora cringed. "He's been kidnapped, Princess…but we can get him back!" he lied, hoping to spare her the details of what Pete was planning to do to Flik.

"Kidnapped? Oh…oh no…" she began to panic.

"It's not a problem, honestly – the guy who took him is a bonehead. We'll have him back before you know it."

She took a deep breath and looked into Sora's big, bug eyes. "Okay…but I'm trusting you guys…just law low here for a while so the grasshoppers can eat and then leave."

Donald poked Goofy with his staff and gave him a worried look.

"Um…your majesty…what are those grasshoppers intendin' ta eat up there?" Goofy said nervously.

Atta paused and stared at the new bugs. "What did you do!" she yelled, as she heard angry voices from above ground.

"HEY! Where's the food?"

"Is this some kind of joke…!"

"Where is it!"

Suddenly, the ground above the chamber cracked open and revealed a hole. In the room next to Atta's chamber, hundreds of ants began to scream in terror as large, ugly grasshoppers started to fly downward into the anthill.

Five of the grasshoppers landed together, huddled around a taller one in the center. They had disgusting brown shells that were light in some spots around the stomach, but sickly dark near the wings and legs. They had four arms each, and two powerful looking legs with jagged edges like knives. Their heads were big, containing massive mouths with rows of sharp teeth and bulbous eyes.

The biggest one stepped forward from the circle, as the remaining four backed him up.

Princess Atta stepped up to meet the tallest grasshopper.

"Hopper," she said, but he silenced her.

"I am not here to talk, especially to you. Where's the offering?" he snapped angrily. His left eye was normal, but his right eye was covered in a dark brown film that made him look even more intimidating than the rest.

"Isn't…isn't it up there? We worked for months on collecting that food…" she turned and faced Goofy, putting two and two together.

"If it was up there, I wouldn't be down here, talking to you. If this is some kind of joke, then I'm not amused. The order of life is this: ants harvest the food for the grasshoppers, the grasshoppers eat the food, the grasshoppers leave, allowing the ants to continue living. You don't want that delicate balance to be thrown off…do you, Atta?"

"Hey! These ants don't have to serve you! Why don't you pick your own food?" Sora yelled, forgetting for a moment that Hopper was much bigger than him. Hopper slowly walked over towards Sora and began to poke him in the face with his antennae.

"Who are you, runt? Who are you, to speak up to me? Do you want to be squished?"

"Yeah! Do you wanna get squished? Oh, man…Hopper, you tell him! You make him pay for his-" but the voice was cut short, as Hopper grabbed the source with his two extra arms and choked him. The fat little grasshopper was lifted from the ground by Hopper's powerful arms.

"If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you, Molt…if I hadn't sworn to mother that I wouldn't kill you…well…I'd kill you!"

"And believe me, Hopper, I'm very grateful…" said Molt, as Hopper tossed him toward the ground, turning back toward Atta and Sora.

"Now…we'll be back when the last leaf falls. There had better be an offering double the usual…or else," he said, beginning to buzz his wings. The other grasshoppers followed suit, as they vanished up through the holes in the anthill and disappeared into the sky.

The princess looked at Sora and his friends with tears in her eyes. "You guys have no idea what you've done…it'll take months to get that kind of food, and the island is nearly empty, now that its almost the rainy season…"

Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy looked at each other sadly. They formed a huddle and turned away from Atta.

"Guys…those grasshoppers were big…I don't think all five of us could take them alone…" Riku said realistically.

"What? Is Riku going soft?" Sora teased. "We can take 'em…"

"Believe me…I'm not going soft…I'm just being level headed, something you know nothing about…" he shot back.

"Well…we could offer to go get help…like an army!" Kairi suggested.

"Yeah! Dat's a good idea!" Donald affirmed.

The circle broke apart and they turned back to Atta.

"Princess Atta…we're going to go get help for your colony. There's no reason you should have to slave for those grasshoppers…and we're going to find some bugs to help us fight them!" Sora said, expecting cheers and applause to ring through the anthill.

Atta looked at them as if they were crazy. "Two things wrong with that idea. One, you'll never make it off Ant Island. It's suicide! You're just a couple of bugs…if you don't get squished, you'll be fried by the sun. And two…nobody will help us. We're just a bunch of ants."

"Well…we'll help you. And that's a start…right?" Kairi said, as she began to fly up the spiral dirt staircase out of the anthill.

"Don't worry – we'll be back with some warrior bugs before you know it!" Riku said, following her.

"Sorry about the food…" Goofy said, following Donald out of the hill.

Sora stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down at Atta. "I know you barely know us…but we'll help you…you can count on that." He left immediately after that, as Atta turned back to the hundreds of ants in the anthill. One spindly, old looking ant came ambling up to her.

"What do you think, Princess?" he croaked.

She thought for a minute.

"They'll never come back. Start collecting more food for the offering…it's the only thing we can do…"


	46. Chapter XLVI: Beggars and Choosers

CHAPTER XLVI

BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS

"Pete's such a moron," Riku said bitterly. "If he hadn't come and thrown us off, we could be looking for the Wind Butterfly instead of helping the colony…"

Riku hopped over a crack in the mud. The dried out riverbed surrounding Ant Island provided no shelter from the elements. Large cracks divided the entire surface of arid dirt into small, checkerboard sections. Deep chasms led down beneath the cracks in the mud…if they were normal sized, they could cross this in two steps…but as bugs, it took them almost an hour.

When they climbed the dirt and grass path at the other side of the riverbed, they noticed a giant human-sized hut straight ahead. It wasn't impressive, by any means…but where there was a hut, there was food…and where there was food, there surely were bugs.

"Let's check it out," Sora said as they neared the base of the hut. Beneath the stairway there was a dark brown path, leading into the biggest city Sora had seen since Traverse Town.

Soup cans served as restaurants, cereal boxes were skyscrapers, and shoe boxes were apartment buildings…it was massive, alright…Sora and his friends could hardly believe that it was made entirely from garbage…but then again, where were bugs supposed to get building materials from, anyway? A massive centipede sped past them on the street, paying no attention to the lightening bug that was lighting a red stoplight.

"Watch it!" Donald said, buzzing backwards onto the sidewalk.

"Okay guys…let's split up and find some big bugs to help us," Kairi suggested. Donald and Goofy went off toward a large cereal box hotel with a large number of mosquitoes pouring out from it. Riku and Kairi walked along the side of a massive bottle cap pool, where several beefy looking cockroaches were lounging.

Sora walked toward the center of town, to try and scope out a better view of the place. It extended all the way out to the back of the house, where Sora could faintly see a small, red and white circus tent. He was distracted by the sound of a gruff bartender throwing a mosquito out of a soup can nearby.

"Ya think yer tough? I'll show ya tough…" he said, walking away from the dejected mosquito.

"Perfect!" Sora said excitedly as he ran toward the can. "There's gotta be someone in there that can help the colony…"

Suddenly, he heard several voices start shouting from within the can…in a flash, at least two dozen various bugs poured from the entry of the can and blocked Sora from getting in.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sora asked a nearby mosquito.

"Some crazy bugs are pickin' a fight with these clowns…don't stand a chance…" he said drunkenly as he flopped to the ground.

The can shook and rattled as it broke free from its anchor to the ground. It rolled halfway down the block before it rolled back and crashed into a wall where it had been before. The throngs of bugs outside had dispersed, leaving only Sora to be brave enough to peek inside the can.

He expected to see a group of muscle-bound thugs standing up in the wreckage, but instead saw a motley crew of bugs, all looking a little worse for the wear. They stirred and gathered together in the center of the room atop the pile of overturned tables and unconscious flies: a fat green caterpillar with a massive mouth; a beautiful gypsy moth with a fantastic pattern on her wings; a strange looking praying mantis; a small but stout ladybug; a long, brown stick bug like Goofy; two tiny pillbugs that rolled up into balls; a massive blue dung beetle with a sizable horn and a tall, female black widow spider.

It looked as though they had beaten up everyone that stayed in the bar…they certainly didn't look like warrior animals, but then again, Sora didn't think he looked that impressive as a bug either. If they turned on him, he surely couldn't take them all on by himself…with Riku, Kairi, Goofy and Donald away looking for bugs elsewhere, he decided to take the smart approach and try flattery…

"Oh, great bugs!" he said, trying not to sound too fake. "The meager colony of Ant Island has been searching for a group with just your talents!"

The bugs' eyes lit up. The tall stick bug whispered to the caterpillar so Sora couldn't hear him, "a talent scout!"

"We need your help…we've been forced to prepare food for these grasshoppers…"

"Dinner theatre!" the gypsy moth said excitedly to the praying mantis.

"And we need your help in order to show 'em what were made of…" Sora concluded.

"Wow…this guy really wants to impress these grasshoppers…" the ladybug muttered to the dung beetle. "He must be hard up for entertainment…"

Behind the warrior bugs, the beefy flies that started the fight began to wake up…the warrior bugs gave each other a nervous look and took off, straight toward the door, sweeping Sora up with them as they went.

"We'll take the job! Explain the details on the way!"

Out in the center of Bug City, Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy had met back up with no luck. Everyone they had talked to either wanted no part of helping a bunch of ants, or they were so weak they would have been no help even if they came with rocket launchers. Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw Sora darting at them with a ragtag group of bugs running after him. He wore an unmistakable smile on his face as they met up in the center of the town.

"Guys, these are my friends – Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy," he told the warriors, pointing at each of them in turn. "Guys, meet Heimlich," he said, pointing to the fat green caterpillar, "Francis," he pointed at the ladybug, "Slim," then to the stick bug, "Dim," he said, gesturing toward the big, blue dungbeetle, "Manny and Gypsy," pointing to the praying mantis and his wife the moth, "Rosie, Tuck and Roll," he finished, indicating the black widow and the two identical pillbugs.

Tuck and Roll babbled something in some strange gibberish, and Francis stepped in front of them.

"What I think they're sayin' is, pleased to meet you…now let's get on with the show!" the ladybug said, as Dim opened up his massive wings along with Gypsy, Manny and Francis. Dim clung to Heimlich, as Francis picked up Slim and Gypsy picked up Rosie. Donald and Kairi opened their wings, and Donald grabbed Goofy, Kairi grabbed Riku, and Sora was forced to sit on Dim's back with the strange pillbugs, Tuck and Roll.

"You got it, ma'am," Sora said to Francis as they took off.

"Hey, just because I'm a ladybug don't mean I'm a girl, does it!" he said, taking offense. Sora just mumbled 'oops' to himself as they flew back toward Ant Island.


	47. Chapter XLVII: Riverbed Roustabout

CHAPTER XLVII

RIVERBED ROUSTABOUT

Ant Island was still a speck on the horizon as Sora explained in detail the situation to Tuck and Roll atop Dim. They stared at him, smiling contentedly, as Sora finished his long story about the grasshoppers, the food, and the last leaf…

"So Princess Atta sent us to find some strong guys, just like you!" he yelled over the loud buzzing of Dim's wings. Tuck and Roll looked at each other, and with big stupid smiles on their faces they nodded and yelled in gibberish. It would have been clear to anyone except Sora that they didn't understand a word he had said…but Sora never claimed to be the brightest crayon in the box…

Sora sighed. "Whatever…" he said, looking back toward Ant Island. It was growing nearer…they were right above the cracked riverbed, when Sora was almost knocked off Dim's back by a yellow and orange blur.

A screech filled the friend's ears as the blur whizzed by again, and this time, they were able to see it – a bird, easily twenty times their size, was dive bombing them in hopes of some lunch.

"Tweet-tweet! Tweet-tweet!" Tuck and Roll screamed in their halted English.

"Oh! No! I am too young to be eaten by a big birdie…I have not even turned into a butterfly…" Heimlich cried from below Dim. The bird did another swoop, and this time connected with Kairi – her wings gave out as she and Riku tumbled faster and faster down toward the dusty path below…

"Riku! Kairi! We've gotta help them, Dim!" Sora said, grabbing Dim's horn and forcing him downward in a dive straight at Kairi and Riku. The other bugs followed suit as they tried to keep up…Dim couldn't catch the rapidly falling Kairi…

But her wings buzzed weakly at the last moment, keeping her afloat just before she and Riku crashed into the ground between the cracks…they hadn't been badly hurt…but the bird that was pecking between the cracks was trying its best to fix that…

Tuck and Roll saw the bird up close and curled up into balls to protect themselves…the defensive action ended up doing more damage as they rolled off of Dim's back, knocking straight into the bird's head and landing in the crack next to Kairi and Riku. They dragged the ant and the bee underneath a large rock, out of the bird's reach for the moment, as Sora forced Dim to smash into the bird's beak, knocking it backwards. Dim started to blubber like a baby, as he took off away from the bird at full speed with Heimlich in tow and Sora on his back.

Noticing a much larger meal, the bird turned and swooped toward Dim and Sora, growing ever closer…

As Gypsy flew between Dim and the bird, she turned and spread her wings, revealing the entire pattern on her back – her wings spread out to reveal an image of two scary eyes and dagger-like teeth, causing the bird to shriek and back away, looking at the moth in confusion.

Francis flew up beside the bird as it was distracted and held Slim by his spindly feet…

"Why must I always play the stick…or the bat…or the twig…?" he sighed, as Francis swatted at the bird with him. Gypsy and Rosie took off toward Riku, Kairi, Tuck and Roll as they climbed out of the crack, reaching for the web Rosie was lowering to them.

Manny, meanwhile, had flown into a small thicket of roses and cleared a small path, large enough for Dim to fit through. With a shrill whistle, everyone heard him and darted toward his location, as the bird tried to decide which bugs to eat first…

Dim, Sora and Heimlich were up front, leading the pack toward the roses…behind them were Francis and Slim…and close behind them were Kairi, Riku, Tuck, Roll and Rosie, all being held up by Gypsy. They started to lag behind as the orange bird grew closer…

"I…I can't carry this…much weight…" Gypsy struggled. Kairi's wing was badly injured, but she struggled and beat her wings as hard as she could, wincing from the pain. She quickly scooped up Tuck and Roll and lightened the load for Gypsy considerably. With a last burst of energy, they flew between the thick, thorny branches of the rose thicket and landed on a large leaf.

The orange bird slammed into the thorns, cutting itself and poking its feet as it tried to open a way to his lunch…but after a few attempts and a few more scratches, it gave up and flew off into the sunset. The bugs all took a deep breath, as they heard something none of them ever expected to hear at that moment in time…

Thousands of ants from the top of Ant Island began to clap and holler at the top of their lungs. They had watched the entire battle with the bird and were more than astonished at the results – no ant from their colony had ever gone toe to toe with a bird and lived to tell about it. Princess Atta's jaw almost touched the ground.

"I can honestly say that I've never been more happy that I was wrong in my life!"

Back in the thicket, Francis laid back on a comfortable berry. "Applause…I'm in heaven."


	48. Chapter XLVIII: Funny Business

CHAPTER XLVIII

FUNNY BUSINESS

After waiting a few minutes to make sure that the bird wasn't coming back, Sora and his bug friends all flew over to the clearing on Ant Island and landed amidst the hundreds of ants who were still clapping and cheering for them.

"Princess Atta, we've returned with reinforcements…" Sora said, sliding off of Dim's back. The hustle and bustle was too loud to talk over, as all the ants crowded around the newcomers. Some marveled at how large Dim was, while others looked up at Rosie and commented on how intimidating she looked. Princess Atta gave Sora a wary look as she grabbed his hand and shook it wildly.

"You're sure you guys can defend us from the grasshoppers?" she said, still unsure of the plan.

"Of course! Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and I could do it ourselves…but with the help of these guys, it'll be a piece of cake!" he said, scratching the back of his head and smiling. "What's going on over there?" Sora asked, pointing to a small group of ants who were cheering.

The small group of ants were holding up pieces of grain and grass as if it were currency, and next to them was a much larger group of ants with sour looks on their faces.

"Uh…" Atta searched for her words. "They were kind of betting that you wouldn't make it past the riverbed…"

The sour looking ants all marched past Sora, and he could have sworn he heard one of them say 'thanks a lot…' with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Gee, that's good to know…" Sora said.

"I'm sorry, its not like any of us wished you any harm…"

"I get it…no problem, Princess," he said, trying to get off the topic. "I think the warriors need to rest, though…especially after that fight with the bird…"

"Of course! Come this way…" she said, leading Sora down into the anthill. The other warrior bugs, including Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy, followed them through the hole.

The underground caves of the anthill were amazing – they had barely gotten a glimpse of it before the grasshoppers came the first time they were down below. A massive, spiraling root was carved to be the stairway out of and into the anthill, and all along the walls there were glowing, green mushrooms giving the area some much needed light. As they weaved through the long, spiraling tunnels, they occasionally saw bigger rooms with flower petals and leaves as beds and other furniture inside. Atta stopped as she opened two large leaf-shaped doors, leading them into a large room that had many large beds made from moss.

"You warriors get some rest…the way the leaves have been falling recently, the last one may fall any day now…" she said, closing the doors behind her.

Manny took a step in front of his friends from the tin can. "Excuse me, Sora…what did that ant just call us?" he said with a perplexed look on his face.

"The warriors! Geez…" Sora replied.

"WARRIORS!" the bugs all exclaimed, staring at Sora in disbelief.

"Yeah…you are warriors…aren't you?" Riku asked. "We came to bug city searching for warriors to help us defend Ant Island from the grasshoppers…"

The motley crew of bugs had worried expressions on their faces. Without words, Slim bent over and picked up a few rocks from the ground and started juggling them. Rosie started to use her web like a whip, slapping at Dim, who playfully charged at her. Tuck and Roll did some interesting flips, Tuck landing on Roll's shoulders. At the end of this strange display, they reached their arms out in all directions.

"TA-DAA!" they shouted.

"Circus bugs? Sora, you were supposed to get warriors, not clowns!" Kairi yelled, buzzing involuntarily.

"I…I did! I got warriors! These guys beat up an entire tin can full of tough bugs back in Bug City!" he said, trying to defend himself. "You guys didn't tell me you were circus bugs!"

"It was you who didn't tell us we were being contracted for war, my little ant friend! This is what we call false advertising!" Manny shouted back.

"Just shut up for a minute!" Riku yelled, causing everyone to be quiet. He paced up and down in the room, staring at the floor and tapping his finger on his head.

"Look…I'm sorry if there was a little miscommunication…but we're not fighting any grasshoppers, kids. We're not about to commit suicide…" Rosie said softly, not trying to start another shouting match.

"I know. It's a lot to ask of you, guys…we're sorry Sora didn't take the time to fully explain…" Riku said, shooting Sora a sideways glace.

"That's not fair! I did explain! I told Tuck and Roll the whole thing!" he squeaked.  
"Honey, Tuck and Roll don't speak any English…" said Gypsy, trying not to laugh.

Tuck and Roll shouted another bit of gibberish as Sora hung his head in shame, plopping down on a pile of moss.

"You all heard what Atta said…the last leaf could fall any day now. Manny – we're not asking your group to fight with us…but if you left now, Atta and the rest of the colony would just give up all hope…so…" Riku trailed off.

"Just stay until the grasshoppers come, and you can sneak off while we fight them. It's the only option, guys," Kairi said matter-of-factly.

The circus bugs looked at each other in dismay. One by one, they all nodded and sat on their piles of moss, relaxing for the first time since after they had escaped from the bird. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy walked away from the circus bugs to talk in a slightly more private corner of the sleeping tunnel.

"There were a lot of grasshoppers here, Sora…at least twenty of them. If they were half as strong as Hopper…" Kairi said nervously.

"I know…but we're going to have to take 'em out ourselves. It's not like we can force the circus bugs to fight…" said Sora, trying to ignore the fact that it was him who had gotten them all in such trouble. He sighed and stood up, leaving Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy to get some sleep.

Sora aimlessly walked through the tunnels, not looking for anyone in particular. When he passed a large, ornate archway, he walked through it, ending up in a small hallway leading into a huge cavern. The walls were decorated with broken twigs and nuts, making a lovely mosaic pattern. He peeked through the 'windows' that were cut into the leaf doors, and saw a very interesting sight…

A large pedestal jutted out from a small pool of water. It was almost taller than Sora, and atop it sat a beautiful, but rusty, bronze statue. The statue was of a gorgeous butterfly, wings fully extended, each bearing a small tornado-shaped gust of wind. For the eyes of the butterfly there were two small gray gems. For a moment, he thought about running in and grabbing the statue, waking up his friends and leaving without another word…

But he shook the dark thought from his head. Instead, he just continued to stare at the statue as a small purple hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"Ahh!" he yelled, turning to see the smiling face of Princess Atta.

"I see you've gone and ruined the surprise…" she said, escorting Sora into the chamber that held the Wind Butterfly. "We were planning to give this treasure to your group as a token of our appreciation, after you drove off the grasshoppers…"

Sora was dumbfounded…Riku and the others would be ecstatic to know that he had redeemed himself by finding the Wind Butterfly so soon…

"Are the rest of the warriors asleep?" Atta asked, slamming Sora back into reality as he realized that the warriors were nothing more than circus bugs. He stared into Atta's eyes as he said, "yeah. I should get some rest too…"

He walked out of the chamber and sprinted back to the sleeping quarters…though his head hit the pillow immediately, it took him more than an hour to get to sleep, his mind racing with thoughts of the looming battle…


	49. Chapter XLIX: Playing With Pesticide

CHAPTER XLIX

PLAYING WITH PESTICIDE

Sora woke up early the next morning, before everyone but Kairi. He hadn't gotten much sleep…the image of Atta's smiling face kept haunting him as his lies echoed over and over in his head…

He got up and noticed a pile of sticks and twigs in the center of the room – they were carved to resemble swords and shields, and there were plenty to go around to all the supposed warriors in the room. He woke up Donald, Goofy and Riku and gave them all the good news about the Wind Butterfly.

"Good. Now all we have to do is avoid getting killed by the grasshoppers…" Riku said seriously. Without warning, a loud horn sounded through the anthill. It echoed all the way down every chamber, waking up the circus bugs as Atta came running into the sleeping chamber.

"The last leaf has fallen…the grasshoppers will be on their way any moment, Sora…good luck," she said, pushing Sora and Kairi out of the door. Riku, Donald and Goofy followed, with the circus bugs tailing behind.

"Don't forget your weapons!" Atta yelled at the circus bugs before they had left the room.

"Oh…right…of course…" Francis said dryly, as he picked up a sword and held it backwards.

Up in the clearing, everything was pushed to the side to make room for the grasshoppers arrival. The entire ant colony was sitting at the base of the tree, watching the clearing from a distance. Atta joined them as Sora, Riku and the others assembled in the center of the clearing. The offering stone was no longer holding a leaf covered in food – it was obviously being kept elsewhere.

A loud buzzing filled their ears, as the unmistakable sound of grasshopper wings became louder and louder. Sora, Kairi and Riku all drew their keyblades out into an attack stance, as Donald held up his staff and Goofy raised his shield. The circus bugs awkwardly held up their swords and shields as the wings' beating became nearly deafening…the circus bugs inched further away from the clearing, almost to the grass where they could hide…

Hopper and Molt were the first two grasshoppers to touch down near the offering stone. Behind them landed about fifteen more large, intimidating grasshoppers – some were wiry and rabid looking, while some were fat and could barely fly without breaking a sweat. Hopper looked atop the offering stone as his rage built…he kicked the bottom rock, sending the entire offering stone tumbling into the chasm below. He rounded on Sora, hatred etched in his jagged face.

"What's the meaning of this? I give you another chance…and this is how I'm thanked!" he screamed, only inches from Sora's face.

"It's over, Hopper…the ants are tired of taking orders from you…don't you realize that they outnumber you? Hmm…" Sora said, pretending to think about it.

"Ya know…I don't think it's the ants that work for the grasshoppers here, Sora," Riku said, drawing the attention of Hopper. "It looks to me like it's the grasshoppers that need the ants…"

Hopper howled with rage and began to buzz his wings violently. "How dare you! It seems like someone's forgetting their place, ant…" he said, dashing at Riku.

It had begun – the circus bugs silently slid away into the grass, away from the battle. The colony didn't have any time to notice – the battle was raging within seconds. Hopper had engaged Riku with his jagged arms – the carapace of his grasshopper body was nearly as strong as the keyblade, and twice as jagged…with a few overhead swings, he connected several times with Riku's keyblade, setting the two of them into a stand-still…

Sora dove at two of the shorter and squatter grasshoppers who hadn't expected to fight, one of which happened to be Molt…with a quick slash, he knocked one back onto his wings and pounced on his body, slashing fervently. Molt kicked Sora with his powerful leg, sending him sliding across the dirt…

Kairi and Donald buzzed upward, drawing five or six of the grasshoppers to the sky. Donald reached his wand out and cried, "magnega!", drawing the unaware grasshoppers into the center of the whirling magnet. Kairi swung at each of them in turn as they rotated around the spell, destroying all but two…

Goofy had been pinned down by three fat grasshoppers…he tried to slide out of their grip, but it was no use. Just when he thought he would faint from the pressure, all three grasshoppers were thrown from his body by a flash of light – Sora had dispatched Molt with a thunder spell and had saved Goofy without a second to spare.

Riku slid beneath Hopper's long legs and popped up behind him, swinging his keyblade backwards and catching him off guard. Hopper fell over, trying to buzz his wings, but Riku had damaged them pretty badly. A beam of dark energy came forth from the Dawn of Kings as Riku shouted "darkara!", sending Hopper flying into a pile of rocks at the opposite side of the clearing.

Up above, Kairi and Donald had corralled the remaining two grasshoppers together…as they flew around them in a circle, they stopped on opposite sides and called out "graviga!" simultaneously, sending the two grasshoppers smashing into the ground below, completely destroying them.

Donald and Kairi buzzed down to the ground to meet Riku, Sora and Goofy. The five of them were panting…but they had eliminated all but one of the grasshoppers…Hopper himself was marching toward them, his eyes burning with revenge.

"You think I care that I'm outnumbered? I've always been outnumbered, fools…there will always be more grasshoppers…more grasshoppers to come back and put these ants in their place…" he said, coming closer and closer to the exhausted friends.

But before he could reach them, a black portal opened up directly in front of them – a portal much larger than the ones the Legion normally used to get around. Nothing came out of it but a familiar, idiotic voice…

"Hey, runts! Don't consider me rude for not stoppin' by, but I got a friend of yers that wants ta visit! Have fun, ya twerps!" Pete's voice echoed out into the clearing as two massive legs protruded from the portal.

The creature stood up to its full height – more than five times the size of Sora, it was quite large – even bigger than the bird they had escaped from back in the riverbed. It had a large, oval shaped head with two bulging eyes, each containing a bright yellow pupil. Its mouth was more like a pincer, and as it clicked sideways to open and close, a set of long, black feelers poked from the top of its head. The body was a large, beefy carapace, similar to Dim's - the main difference was the thousands of spikes jutting out from the creature's back and sides. All in all, the creature had six legs, each bearing a large heartless insignia. The feet of this creature were as big as leaves…

Hopper found this out first hand as Heartless Flik stepped on and squished him, all without batting an eye.


	50. Chapter L: Battle For The Wind Butterfly

CHAPTER L

BATTLE FOR THE WIND BUTTERFLY

The ants at the base of the tree shrieked in horror, though they remained seated, fearing the massive heartless. Atta looked down to the battle, as the Heartless Flik began to walk fiercely toward Sora and his friends…

Goofy reached back with his shield and tossed it at the creature's back, slashing two of its spikes off in one blow – the Heartless Flik bellowed in pain as its feelers thrashed wildly.

Riku and Sora jumped upward, aiming straight for the massive pincers on its head – they connected several times, but the loud clinking sound they heard as they slammed into the pincers told them that its face was invulnerable…

Kairi and Donald screamed "blizzaga!" and fired several large ice shards at more of its spikes…they depleted their magic as five more spikes came crashing to the ground near the beasts feet. It was too tall to reach the spikes on its back, even by jumping...they were far too tired to fly…

The Heartless Flik suddenly sucked its six legs into its body and curled up into a large ball, diving straight at Sora and Riku. Like a massive, spiked bowling ball, it slashed through them like a hot knife through butter, sending them all in different directions. As it neared the edge where the offering stone once was, it turned on a dime and came rocketing back at Goofy, Donald and Kairi, pummeling them as it rolled over their bodies…

The legs popped back out with a sickening slurp as the Heartless Flik stood back up, roaring in triumph…Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Kairi were spread out around the clearing, trying to get up… The Heartless Flik noticed the thousands of ants, just sitting near the tree…it began to walk determinedly toward them, malice in its giant eyes…

"We've got to protect the colony!" Sora yelled, but he knew it was futile…he cast as much curaga magic as he could on himself and Riku, trying to give them enough strength to catch the Heartless Flik before it trampled the colony…

"CHARGE!" echoed through the clearing as several figures shot out from the tall grass…the circus bugs had come back! Quickly circling around the behemoth, they each focused on the only part of its body they could reach – its legs.

As Francis slashed at one of its legs, the Heartless Flik raised it, recoiling in pain and steadying himself with his other five legs. In succession, Tuck and Roll did the same to a different leg, as the remaining legs thrashed wildly, trying to crush the circus bugs.

"It's not working!" called Manny, narrowly avoiding being squished.

"We've gotta work together!" screamed Rosie, backing away from a leg as it smashed into the ground near her. "On the count of three – one…two…THREE!"

In unison, Francis slashed a leg, Tuck and Roll pounced into one, Dim rammed another, Rosie and Gypsy whipped one, Manny and Slim pummeled one with rocks and Heimlich weakly slapped the final leg – the resulting recoil of all of the Heartless Flik's legs caused it to awkwardly fall to the ground, landing painfully on its stomach.

Riku, Kairi, Sora, Donald and Goofy had enough time by that point to take a few potions and they were back in the game…the circus bugs ran past them, cowering in the tall grass. They heard Francis' voice from the grass say, "okay, you guys can take it from here!"

In a flash, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Goofy were all atop the Heartless Flik, smashing spikes from its back faster than ever. The black feelers on top of its head whipped around, trying to remove the pests from its back…but as fast as they moved, the feelers were very easy to dodge, moving in very repetitive patterns…as Sora smashed off the final spike, the Heartless Flik screeched in agony.

The friends jumped from its back and stood face to face with the monster – its face began to swell and grow puffy, as Sora took this as an indication for weakness – sure enough, as he launched into a powerful set of combos on the pincers, they actually connected, eventually finishing off the Heartless Flik once and for all.

From the black sludge that formed as the creature fell, another giant, silver heart broke through, hovering above the clearing. Riku held out his Dawn of Kings, shooting a beam of white light into the heart, safely stashing it away in his heart harvester.

The tree erupted with cheering, as the ants all poured down into the clearing, congratulating Sora and the warrior bugs. Atta walked calmly up to Sora, extending the Wind Butterfly, as the ants of the colony grew deathly quiet.

"This relic has been passed from generation to generation, Sora…but since all of our ancestors have been enslaved by the grasshoppers, we find it fitting to pass it along to you – our savior," she said, handing the heavy statue to Sora. He looked to his friends and smiled, handing it off to Kairi.

"Thank you, Princess Atta. This artifact will be really helpful to us on our quest…" he thought for a moment as he stared at Atta's big, blue eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know where any other artifacts like this one would be, would you?"

She shook her head. "As far as I know, it's one of a kind…you're not planning to leave, are you?" she said, surprised. "We've all grown so attached to you and the warriors…"

Off on the other side of the clearing, hundreds of ants clamored around the circus bugs, shaking their hands and slapping them on the backs. They seemed to be loving the attention, and even if they were only circus bugs, they proved that they deserved to be called warriors…that was for sure. Sora waved fondly at the circus bugs as he turned back to Princess Atta.

"We've got to. But don't worry – we'll be back, with Flik safe and sound," Sora said, hugging Princess Atta before he walked away.

"Good luck, warriors! May the spirit of the Wind Butterfly watch over you all!" she cried out. "Wait…take these," she said, handing Sora two small keychains. She smiled and waved as Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy boarded their miniature gummi ship deep within the grass.

As they took off, breaking free from Ant Island's force field, they became human once more. The Wind Butterfly and the Barrett also grew in size, and everything was back to normal…

The Barrett's thrusters kicked in as they sped off in search of the next Artifact of Solace, hoping that they weren't too late…


	51. Chapter LI: Joyride

CHAPTER LI

JOYRIDE

Sora set the ship's autopilot to alert them when they approached any new worlds before he headed to the kitchen for something to eat. When he arrived, he found Riku sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal and staring into the Wind Butterfly's eyes. The statue took up most of the table, making it hard for anyone else to sit with him.

'What's so special about this thing, anyway…' Riku thought to himself. 'It doesn't look all that powerful to me…'

Sora interrupted his thought by dropping a dish into the sink, smashing it to bits.

"Oops…" he said, as he settled on a food that didn't require a plate. Taking an inhuman bite out of a piece of bread, he turned to Riku, who was now staring deeply into his cereal. "What's up, sunshine?" he joked, looking for something to dip the bread into.

"Nothing. Hey, how do those keychains that Atta gave you look?" he changed the subject quickly, desperate for idle chatter.

"Oh, man…I totally forgot! Hey, Kairi! Come in here a sec!"

Kairi entered the kitchen rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She definitely looked cute in her pink and black robe as she entered the kitchen yawning. "What's up, guys?"

Sora took the small keychains from his pocket and showed them to Kairi. One was shaped like a rose petal with white veins, while the other looked like the bottom half of a bee – the yellow and black striped section with the black, pointed stinger. Kairi excitedly unclipped the Thieves' Honor keychain from her keyblade and placed the bumblebee on, causing her keyblade to change drastically. It became the Showstopper, a long keyblade that was actually wider on the top than it was near the handle. The handle was a tangle of smooth thorns, while the shaft of the sword was black and yellow striped, leading into three black stingers where the key usually was.

Sora looked over at Riku. "You want this one?"

"Nah…" Riku shook his head. "I'm still enjoying the one King Mickey gave me."

Sora nodded and replaced the Darklighter with his new Bloom of Unity, a shorter keyblade than he was used to. The shaft and key looked like a thick twig with red thorns jutting out of it, while the handle looked sandy with a single blade of grass where the grip was.

"Pretty neat…" Riku said as Kairi and Sora unsummoned their keyblades and leaned against the counter. "We should probably tell King Mickey and the others that we've gotten the first artifact…"

"Good idea…" Sora said, tapping the micro-com on his shirt. "King Mickey…Cloud…you guys near your micro-coms?"

The line was silent for only a second before King Mickey's voice came through. "What's up, fellas?"

"We've just come from the place you sent us, Ant Island…" Sora started to explain. Kairi took a more direct approach, by shoving her mouth in front of Sora's micro-com and shouting, "We got the Wind Butterfly!"

Sora pushed her away and laughed as Mickey responded.

"Great job, guys…now only five more. Heh…" he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "Unfortunately, that's the only place we had a lead to so far…Cid and I are searching as best as we can. We'll let you know as soon as we know anything."

Back at Disney Castle, Mickey and Cid were indeed diving into assorted textbooks as Aerith entered the room. From the micro-com, they heard Sora say, "thanks, your majesty," as the unit shut off.

"Aerith, what's wrong?" Mickey said, noticing the look of panic in her face.

"King Mickey, Cloud's been having these dreams lately…they started ever since we saw Tifa in the asteroid base, and they've been getting worse all the time…"

"Calm down, Aerith…let's go see him."

A few minutes later, King Mickey, Cid and Aerith were in Yuffie's small apartment in Disney Courtyard. On her one-person bed lay Cloud, a cold compress sitting on his head. Suddenly, as everyone entered and Aerith stood over Cloud, he shot up like an arrow, screaming as if he was having the fight of his life.

Aerith grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him to his senses, waking him from the nightmare…as Cloud looked around the room, he got out of bed and slung his cape over his shirtless torso. "Sephiroth," he said, sitting back on the bed, hanging his head in his hands.

"Cloud…you defeated Sephiroth…" Mickey said, placing a hand on Cloud's shoulder.

Like an animal, Cloud snapped and punched Mickey's hand away. "How would you know? Sephiroth is a part of me, King…I can't just destroy him…it's not that easy…he just keeps coming back…" He broke down into a dry sob. Gathering his belongings and strapping his sword onto his back, he walked straight to the door and stopped, facing away from his friends. "I have to go find him. I can feel him, your majesty."

He didn't wait for an answer as he walked out of Yuffie's apartment and headed straight for the Fenretto.

Mickey and Aerith chased after him, followed by an angry Yuffie. "I swear, Cloud, if you try to leave us behind again, I'll kick your ass!"

Cid was the last one out of the house, yelling, "you better bring her back in one piece!"

As Cloud waited to board the Fenretto, Mickey and Aerith stood behind him. "Room for two more?" Aerith said coyly, brushing her brown hair off of her shoulder.

Cloud looked in her eyes and smiled beneath his cloak. "I dunno. You gonna slow me down?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Cloud," she smiled seductively as she brushed past him, climbing into the Fenretto first.

"Whadya think, Mickey?" Cloud said, cocking his head toward Aerith. "She's something, huh?"

"Cloud…if I wasn't a married mouse…" he said, slapping Cloud on the back as they entered the Fenretto. Yuffie and Cid showed up in the hangar as the gummi ship blasted through the doors. Yuffie started cursing up a storm as Cid lit a cigarette, looking out at his masterpiece…being flown by a complete madman.

"You numbskull! Why'd you design it so it only had three seats, anyway?" Yuffie screeched at Cid.

"Why, if you'd gone with 'em, we wouldn't get to bond," Cid teased.

"Bite me," she said, turning and storming out of the hangar.

"You always this pleasant? Or just when you get stranded in a world with an exceptionally handsome mechanic?"


	52. Chapter LII: The Incan Empire

CHAPTER LII

THE INCAN EMPIRE

The alert system in the Barrett had been blaring for a good ten minutes before Sora and Kairi had woken up everyone on the ship. They headed out to the bridge, half asleep, and looked out the viewscreen to see the new world they were orbiting.

The world was strange – as Sora began to land the ship, they were able to see a massive temple that looked like a giant head. A massive golden face formed the visage of the temple, with a tall headdress that looked like the rays of the sun. The mouth extended downward to the ground, where it led to a grand staircase that seemed to extend forever. They looked to the left and they could faintly see a tall hilltop village…but it was lost behind the trees as Sora landed the Barrett near the base of the stairway.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and Eddy exited the Barrett, and Riku was very relieved to see that they had stayed the same.

"Good…no bugs," Riku said, starting to walk up the massive stone staircase. It was indeed an impressive temple – the staircase was lined with large pillars and flagpoles, all flying red and purple banners. When they reached the top, Donald and Goofy were panting from the workout, as Sora and Kairi approached two large looking guards. They each wore a similar headdress to the one that was carved into the temple, though much smaller. They crossed their two intimidating battle axes, blocking the doorway.

"Halt! Who seeks council from Emperor Kuzco?" asked the guard on the left.

"Er…Sora, Kairi Riku, Goofy and Donald. We're actually just looking for help…" Sora stammered, impressed by the guards stature.

"Another bunch of peasants looking for handouts," stated the guard on the right.

"You may speak with his advisor, Yzma."

They clinked their massive axes together as they separated, allowing Sora and his friends to enter the temple. When they got inside, they noticed all the fantastic furniture carved from gold and bronze, the massive tapestries hanging from the walls and the beautiful candles giving light to the interior – it made the outside look like garbage in comparison. They followed the stairway upwards as it led them into a massive audience chamber.

The chamber was full of earth-tone pillars and a massive stone platform at the far end of the room. Atop the platform was an extravagant throne, and sitting in the throne was a wiry old woman. She had a strange purple tint to her skin, which looked as if it was going to fall off of her body at any moment. She had her black hair pulled back into a large, fanned out ponytail which sat on top of her head like a disgusting spider. He body was quite possible the thinnest body they had ever seen – it was a wonder that she could support the weight of her own black dress. Her mouth looked too large for her head, as did her eyes. She smiled widely as they entered the room, looking down from her nearly fifty-foot pedestal.

As they grew closer, they could see a large man standing next to her. He had a square jaw and beady little eyes stuck behind a caveman's brow. He wore a hat like the guards, but it was clearly too small for his comparatively tiny head. His shoulders were wider than the throne that the woman sat on, and they tapered down into a v-shape as they ended at his hips. His big, muscular arms looked like they could rip their heads off…but suddenly, he dashed off of the edge of the platform with his arms outstretched, falling fifty feet and crashing into the stone floor below, landing awkwardly on his face.

He stood himself up and brushed himself off. He sheepishly looked over at the friends. "I saw a butterfly…" he said, running back up behind the pedestal to stand by the woman's side again.

"Greetings, peasants…what can I do for you today?" she smiled, baring all of her teeth – two of which, they could now see, were as sharp as daggers, much like a vampire's.

"Actually…we're not peasants…we're just here looking for a little help on our journey…" Kairi yelled up to the woman.

"Ah…very well then. My name is Yzma, official advisor to the Emperor. This is my assistant, Kronk," she said, pointing at the feather-brained muscle man.

"Nice to meet ya," Kronk said. "Sorry about the butterfly thing…I get carried away sometimes. Yzma says I need to focus, like start doing crossword puzzles or something, but I don't see-" he was cut off as Yzma stomped on his foot from the throne.

"That's enough, Kronk."

"Right. Sorry. Go ahead, Yzma."

Yzma and Kronk climbed down the hidden staircase behind the platform. When the finally arrived at the bottom, they stood face to face with Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy. She raised an eyebrow without saying a word, prompting Sora to make his request.

"Oh…we're looking for an ancient artifact that may be here…we're not exactly sure what it could look like…but do you have anything like a bronze animal statue we could take a look at?"

Yzma looked Sora up and down, and then pulled Kronk aside, whispering something in his ear.

"Yes, yes…you seem to pose no threat…come. The trophy room is just over here," she said, guiding them to the left side of the audience chamber. A massive tapestry with a picture of a green alligator was pulled aside by Kronk, revealing a hidden stairway. When they had climbed all the way to the top, they were treated to a sight that very few peasants got to see in their lives – Emperor Kuzco's trophy room.

There were literally hundreds of gleaming golden animals sitting on shelves all around the room – but as hard as Sora looked, he couldn't find a single one with an elemental marking on it. Donald, in the meantime, had once again become completely enamored with the sight of treasure, his big black pupils turning into ruby red jewels…

"Touch nothing. If you find the artifact you're looking for, I'm sure we can arrange a healthy trade for it…how much gold do you have on you?" Yzma asked slyly. Something was very strange about this woman…like she was doing this behind her emperor's back…

"Well…we don't have any…" Sora muttered. "All we have is munny…but we've got plenty of that!" he said, pulling out a small bag that clinked with coins. Yzma rubbed her chin for a moment, finally clasping her hands together as she smiled. She reached out and grabbed the entire pouch before Sora had time to recoil. He wanted to punch her right in the face for being so rude…but that Kronk fellow was bigger than him and Riku combined…

"Go ahead…look around…but only you, boy," she ordered, looking over at Donald's gleaming red eyes. In a flash, Donald lost all self control as he rushed over to a fantastic looking statue of a slim looking dog, encrusted with white diamonds and emeralds.

"Donald! Don't touch anythin'…" Goofy yelled, chasing him and grabbing him around the waist. Donald had barely touched the statue with one feather when a loud alarm began to blare throughout the room, red lights flashing in unison with the noise.

Yzma panicked. "Kronk! Detain them!" she screamed, as Kronk scooped up Goofy and Donald under his arm, dragging them back into the audience chamber and out of Sora, Kairi and Riku's sight. Eddy flew after them, squealing like they were playing tag.

"Hey! What's the idea!" Kairi yelled, forgetting where she was.

"I said not to touch anything, and your friends disobeyed. They must be jailed until Emperor Kuzco decides their fate…it's out of my hands…" Yzma sneered.

Riku stepped forward. "Fine…we'll take it up with him. Just give us our munny…"

Yzma tossed the pouch up in the air and caught it as she started out of the room. "I do believe we had a verbal deal…take whatever artifact you choose…that is, before Emperor Kuzco finds you…" she cackled, walking back down the stairs. Sora tried to chase her, but a massive stone door slid down and blocked their only exit as Yzma pushed a button down below.

"Great! That was half of our munny!" Sora said. "And by the looks of things, this Kuzco guy isn't going to be happy that we're in his trophy room…even if we were trapped by a sneaky witch…"

"Easy come, easy go…" Kairi said simply. "We'll make more munny…let's look around, while we're stuck in here…"

"Yeah. Who knows? Maybe we'll find the lever for the door or something…?" Riku pondered, as he stared at a shelf full of fishing plaques.

The trophies were strange – while most people had one trophy for one event, Kuzco seemed to win first, second and third in almost every competition – bowling, fishing, llama herding…Kuzco seemed like a hero with all the trophies he had…

As he gently peered behind some large clay urns in the back of the room, careful not to touch them, Riku noticed a glint of bronze from the corner of his eye. He kneeled down to get a better look…behind the urns in a nearly hidden display box was a bronze plated lizard of some kind…a salamander. The lizard had a beautiful image of flames etched onto its tail, with red gems poking out of its tiny eyes.

"Guys! I found it!" Riku called, startling Sora and causing Kairi to almost knock over an entire shelf of sailing trophies. The friends, however, didn't have time to celebrate, as the stone door slid open to reveal a thin, young man…his face simply appalled by the sight of them.


	53. Chapter LIII: A Most Valuable Treasure

CHAPTER LIII

A MOST VALUABLE TREASURE

He wore a massive golden headdress over his neck-length black hair. His face was thin, with a pointy little nose…he also wore a red tunic and brown sandals. He couldn't have been more than Riku's age.

"Hey…what are you doing in my trophy room!" he cried, rushing over Sora and pushing him near the stairs. "No touchy! No! Uh-uh…bad!" he said, slapping Kairi's hands as he pushed her over to Sora. "What are you lookin' at over there, blue boy?" he said with a snotty tone to Riku.

"Uh…Emperor Kuzco?" he said, unsure of the answer.

"Uh, yeah. Hello, the one and only…jeez, you been living under a rock? Now get away from there and go back into the audience chamber before I call the guards…"

Riku, Sora and Kairi waited a full ten minutes down by the pedestal until Kuzco casually descended the stairs and met them in the room. "Had to make sure you peasants didn't take anything…"

"Well, your highness…" Sora was getting pretty tired of saying that. He wished he didn't have to deal with so many kings, princesses and emperors all the time… "We actually gave your advisor some munny in order to take that Flame Salamander you've got…she didn't say it wasn't hers…" Sora said, hoping not to anger the young emperor.

"Well its not hers to give, so…nyah-nyah," he said, sticking out his tongue.

Kairi sighed. "She also imprisoned a few of our friends…Eddy, Goofy and Donald…she said you would have to release them. If you chose to," she added hastily.

"Hmm…yes…IF I chose to…" Kuzco said, pacing the floor. "Well, since you've been so honest, I won't make my judgment for three days. They'll stay alive until then."

Sora, Riku and Kairi looked at him in disbelief. "Can't you just let them go?"

"Hey, guys! This is a big thing! I'm not sentencing them to death immediately…that's more than I do for most peasants who come through my temple…" he said indignantly. "Be grateful! And also, get out. I'm done with you. Buh-bye. Guards!" he shouted as he started to climb up to his throne on the pedestal, waving patronizingly.

Six strong guards with axes corralled Sora, Riku and Kairi toward the door…they were bigger than Kronk, and with their friends imprisoned, they didn't want to risk fighting…

"What about the Flame Salamander?" Sora shouted as he was gradually nearing the door.

"What about it? Oh, that's right…it's mine," Kuzco said as he plopped down into his throne. "See ya!"

Sora, Riku and Kairi were thrown to the ground outside of the temple, even though they had stopped resisting at least five minutes ago. As Riku stood up, brushing the sand from his yellow shirt, he shouted back at the guards, "thanks! Real polite of you…"

"Yeah…they ain't exactly the kindest guys you ever met, are they?" said a new voice. The friends turned to see a big, jolly man wearing a green tunic and a simple brown hat. He had a large, fat nose in between a set of very friendly eyes and an even friendlier looking smile. He was wheeling a large cart full of bags and pots behind him as he extended his hand to the friends. Sora shook it first. "Name's Pacha."

"Sora, Kairi and Riku. It's nice to meet you, Pacha…do you work for Emperor Kuzco?"

"Me? Oh, no…well, I guess everyone kind of works for Kuzco…he is the emperor…but not directly. I have a llama farm over on that hilltop," he said, pointing across miles and miles of grassland. "Kuzco just summoned me here to tell me he was going to destroy my village to make a summer home…" Pacha said, starting to walk down the path. "I have to get going – it's almost a day's walk back to my village. But if you wanna tag along, I won't stop you…"

Kairi, Riku, Sora and Pacha had crossed a large rope bridge and gone through several miles of forest before they stopped to take a rest. The rest, unfortunately, turned into quite the opposite, as a black portal swirled open in front of their campsite. Pacha stepped backwards, almost falling over his cart, as Sora, Riku and Kairi drew their keyblades. From the dark portal came a heavyset man wearing a Legion Knight's variation of a toga…his mask, they remembered, was that of the Burning Man.

"Hey! If it isn't the little twerps that keep ruining my afterlife! How ya doin'?" said the Burning Man, an unseen smile spreading across his evil lips. "Seen any heartless around here? Lemme fix that for ya…" he said quickly, not allowing Sora or his friends to get a word in edgewise. With a flourish he snapped both of his fingers and slid gracefully back into the portal. Dropping from the sky came hundreds of heartless…mostly new types. The mosquito heartless that circled quickly had returned from Ant Island, but with them were plenty of fat bandits, spewing fire all around. The final type of heartless was new – a huge group of black clouds that disappeared and reappeared clear across the campsite in the blink of an eye.

Sora hurled his keyblade forward, striking a fat bandit directly in the mouth, knocking it over on its back. Kairi ran the opposite way, trying to catch up the dark clouds…but they were warping all over the place, way too fast for Kairi to catch up to…

Riku stepped back toward Pacha, slashing the mosquitoes backwards as they came closer. "Get back, Pacha!" he bellowed, jumping in the air and slashing downward at a cloud, missing. As he came back down, he side kicked a flying heartless into the line of a fat bandits flame, killing it instantly. From behind him, he could hear Pacha rumbling through his belongings…finally coming up with a thick, wooden staff in his hands, almost as big as a tree sapling.

"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll help…" he said, as he swung it over head, pummeling two of the flying bugs into a nearby tree. He wasn't agile, but he was strong, that was for sure…

Sora grabbed his keyblade as it came soaring back toward him – the mosquitoes weren't giving him a break…they were all dive-bombing him at once, trying to take him out together. Sora thought back to all the magic he knew and cried 'reflega!', causing a blue shield of light to form around him, expanding and blowing the heartless who had dared come too close to smithereens.

Pacha wound up his staff and swung directly at two fat bandits' stomachs…Riku was about to warn him about the immunity they had, but both of them fell awkwardly backwards as Kairi pounced from the left, slashing them both until they popped.

Riku stood in the center of the campsite, his mouth hanging open. "Boy, you are strong…" he said as Pacha calmly walked toward him. With a final swing of his staff, he connected with the last mosquito that was heading for Riku's head, sending it into the sky.

The three remaining black cloud heartless zipped around the campsite, pausing only to disappear in a flash of darkness. Their moves became so predictable that Sora merely had to think a step ahead of them and slash as they reappeared. It was annoying…but at least it worked.

"C'mon. My village is only a few hours away…we can rest there after you tell me what those things were…" Pacha said, gathering up his belongings onto his cart.

But after only twenty minutes of walking through some more dense forest, the friends stopped in their tracks as their heard the clip-clop of a hoofed animal drawing nearer. It soon became accompanied by a strange, girlish scream. Pacha strained his eyes to look back toward the woods they had come from, hoping to see what it was…

"A llama?" he said, unsure of himself. Within moments, all doubt was removed, as a brown, shaggy llama came into view. He had black, straight hair on his head and an odd looking golden headdress that looked strangely familiar…

"PANTHERS!" it seemed to shout, running past Pacha and Riku to hide behind a rock.

"Did that llama just talk?" Sora asked his friends.

Suddenly, as if answering him, six sleek, black panthers slinked into their sights. Baring their teeth, they growled, rearing up onto their back legs to swat their intimidating paws. As they came back down, Sora and his friends all were able to see the insignia of the heartless adorning their stomachs, glowing a bright red against their black fur.


	54. Chapter LIV: Can We Talk About This?

CHAPTER LIV  
CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS?

"Quiet down in there…" Kronk said sleepily, leaning back in his chair. The dungeon of the temple was just as beautiful as the rest of it, with tall golden bars making up the walls of the jail cell. Even though it was beautiful, Goofy, Donald and Eddy sat miserably on the one bed in the center of the cell. Donald abruptly jumped up and grabbed the bars, trying to squeeze his head through it.

"We didn't do anything, ya big bully!" he quacked, spitting all over Kronk.

"I know, I know…" said Kronk, wiping some spittle from his tunic. "But Yzma's my boss…and I gotta do what she says."

Goofy elbowed Donald as they both thought back to King Mickey…how many times had they disobeyed him? Not very many, they realized.

"Well…at least tell us when we can get outta here," Goofy pleaded.

"Let's see…Kuzco's orders were that he would release you after three days…but then me and Yzma turned him into a llama, so that three days miiight stretch out for a year or two…"

Eddy was knocked backwards as Donald jumped into the air, rage building in his body. "A year! We don't have a year…" he trailed off as he thought about what else Kronk had said. "Did you say you turned Emperor Kuzco into a llama!"

Kronk kept his eyes closed as he reclined, trying to take a nap. "Yeah…Yzma told me to kill him, but I screwed up and now he's a llama. It's okay, though…I threw him into the forest with the black panthers. Did I say too much?" he asked, opening one of his eyes.

"Naw…you said pretty much everything…" Goofy laughed as Kronk closed his eye and went back to sleep.

Pacha pulled his staff out once more, digging it into the ground for balance as he stared down the panthers. The first one leapt straight in the air, landing on Sora's shoulders, pinning him to the ground. Riku dove at the group, slashing one up in the air with a powerful uppercut. Kairi backed away as two of them tried to back her toward the edge of the grass…

Down below there stretched a long, craggy valley. It was quite a drop from where they were standing…and the small riverbed full of crocodiles at the bottom wasn't very comforting, either.

Kairi shouted, "fira!", keeping the panthers at bay as they approached ever closer…

Pacha pushed off of his staff, launching his massive body into the air – with a loud battle cry, he landed flat on the backs of two panthers as he somersaulted in the air. They vanished in a puff of smoke instantly, reducing their numbers to four. Pacha quickly rushed over to Sora, who was wrestling with the largest panther on top of him. Like a professional golfer, Pacha swung his staff and knocked the biggest panther clear off of the side of the cliff down to the crocodiles below.

Riku slid in a sweeping arc and stood up in front of Kairi, keyblade drawn. With two powerful swings, he drew the two panthers cornering Kairi into the center of the cliff. The final panther was spiked downward into the group by Sora, after Pacha had boosted him upward by his foot.

The three panthers looked around the closing circle…Riku, Kairi, Sora and Pacha were closing in from all sides...as a portal opened up in the center of the cliff to reveal the Burning Man once again. Riku screamed in agony as his keyblade seemed to burn within his hands, not allowing him to loosen his grip…

"Back off, Hades…we'll deal with you later…" Riku said, not taking his eyes from the panthers as he crouched ever closer, trying with all his might to drop his keyblade.

"Stop it! Make it stop!" Kairi cried, sensing Riku's pain.

Hades laughed from within his mask. "Gee, kid, as much as I would love that, I'm gonna have to kill you now and take the Dark One back to my master…you know how that is, don't you?"

"Knock it off, hothead!" Sora yelled, diving at Hades with his blade. As he swung it, Hades barely lifted a foot as he sidestepped the blow, turning a full circle around Sora and punching him in the back with a flaming fist. Sora shot forward and slammed into a tree sitting right on the edge of the cliff.

"That's enough of that, kiddo," he said angrily, trying not to lose his temper. "I've got an idea…how about I go find that Flame Salamander and you guys can deal with my new pet…Cerberus Zero…" he said, snapping his fingers as a portal took him away from the site. Riku's grip finally relaxed, as he gasped in pain, trying to regain his breath. Sora shimmied down the tree trunk, rubbing his palms that were now burning from the impact. In the center of the clearing, the three panthers were dragged into a large, black portal by the lashing tendrils…strange yowls and screams issued from the portal as a massive cat bounded back out of it a moment later.

The beast looked like Cerberus, with the only change being the three heads of the dog were replaced with feline panther heads…the tails of the beast were much longer, whipping almost fully past its head, slamming back into the ground with enough force to crumble the rock.

Riku tried to stand up, failing miserably as he slunk back onto a large rock, still reeling with pain from the shock…his hands were throbbing…he never thought he'd be able to summon his keyblade again…

Kairi tried a direct approach from behind – she soon realized it was a bad idea as Cerberus Zero's three tails all slashed into her at the same time, sending her back into the rock behind which the llama was still hiding.

Sora and Pacha looked at each other and back toward Pacha's cart – in a flash, Pacha grabbed Sora by the scruff of his shirt and tossed him into the air. They shouted, "CANNONBALL!" as the limit attack began…Pacha ran toward his cart as Sora spun rapidly in the air over head, gathering magic power…Pacha tossed each bag, pot, and urn one by one into the air as Sora smashed them downward into the Cerberus' three faces, causing it to recoil each time. As the ammunitions were depleted, Sora positioned himself over the other end of the see-saw like cart, with Pacha standing on the other end…he cast, 'graviga!' directly on himself, rocketing straight at the cart…

With pinpoint precision he slammed the cart upward, sending Pacha into the sky. He curled into a ball as he rose over the three headed beast as Sora gathered the remaining energy he had and cast the spell once more on Pacha, sending him pummeling straight into the beast. The resulting force cracked the edge of the cliff as the cat lost its footing…massive claws shot out, trying to grab onto the ground…but Cerberus Zero fell hundreds of feet to the river below, completely defeated.

Sora and Pacha gave each other a high-five as Pacha went to check on Kairi and Sora helped Riku stand up.

"You okay?" he asked Riku.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Riku said, though Sora could tell he was lying.

"Up and at 'em, little miss…" Pacha said, waking Kairi up.

She groggily shook her head as she stood up, meeting her friends in the center of the trees. Suddenly, from behind the rock, they heard the llama whimpering…

Pacha walked over and called out to it, "don't worry, pal…the bad guys are gone…"

The llama stopped sobbing as it came back into view.

"Took you long enough…were you trying to get me eaten?" he said with a snobby tone.

The friends' jaws dropped. "DEMON LLAMA!" Pacha screamed, running backwards into a tree which stopped him dead in his tracks. "Get it away, get it away!"

"Demon llama? Where!" the llama cried, running into Pacha's arms. "Save me, peasant!"

Pacha took a long, hard look at the llama. "Emperor Kuzco?"

"Ah, yeah…what does it look like?" Kuzco the llama said.

"Uh…it looks like a talking llama…" Sora said, picking up a shattered piece of mirror that had fallen from one of Pacha's bags. He held it up in front of the emperor's face and the resulting look of shock told them that he had no idea that he even was a llama, let alone how it had happened.


	55. Chapter LV: Bridge Over Troubled Water

CHAPTER LV

BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER

"The last thing I remember was having dinner with Yzma and Kronk…and then I woke up in the middle of the jungle being chased by panthers. Talk about overstaying your welcome…" Kuzco said as they walked through the jungle toward the temple from which they had just come.

"Sounds like your 'advisor' isn't what she's cracked up to be, huh?" Sora said, making a disgusted face when he thought of Yzma. "She didn't sound like she had your best interests in mind back in the trophy room…"

"Well, you're lucky we decided to help you get back to your temple…as a llama, you wouldn't stand a chance out here on your own…" Riku said truthfully.

"And now that you've seen how generous we can be…maybe you'll release our friends?" Kairi asked hopefully.

Kuzco stopped walking to hold up one of his hooves. "Nuh-uh. No way, sister…they touched my trophies – mine. Miiiiine. They deserve to be locked up…"

Pacha stopped the party.

"You mean to tell us that we're sticking our necks out for you…for nothing?" his nostrils flared. "Kuzco, you can just find your own way back home if you're going to be that heartless…"

Riku, Sora and Kairi all took Pacha's lead as they began to walk back towards Pacha's village. A few moments later, they heard a defeated whimper from behind them, as a soft clip-clop of hooves followed.

"Geez…okay…I'll release your friends…" he said, sounding depressed.

"And what about my village – are you still gonna destroy it to make a summer home for yourself?" Pacha asked.

Kuzco looked appalled at the thought. "That's my birthday present! Of course I'm going to…" he saw the anger in Pacha's face as he rethought his stance. "I mean…I'll consider moving the location…in time…" he added, trying to sound tough.

Sora considered plea bargaining for the Flame Salamander at that moment…but he decided that it could wait. Up ahead of them was a long rope bridge that didn't feel too sturdy the first time they had crossed it – now that Kuzco was with them, it swayed even more.

At the end of the bridge, they could see a long, dirt path leading directly to the Incan temple where Kuzco lived…if they could just get back there, they might be able to change him back to normal.

In the jail of the temple, Kronk was woken up by the sound of footsteps. "Yzma? That you?" he said sleepily. As he opened his eyes, he saw a large man in black robes approaching him. He wore a strange mask with a flame on it…but he didn't get to see much more of it, as he was sucked downward into a black portal, black tendrils of darkness gripping him and pulling him further out of the jail.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Donald quacked through the jail cell bars at Hades.

"And who's gonna stop me…you? Duck? Like its even a challenge when you're NOT locked in a cage…" he said, stepping into a black portal. "This broad lookin' schmuck is even bigger than Hercules…he'll make a grand heartless warrior…Cerberus Zero will look like a kitten compared to this guy…" he mocked, disappearing.

Alone in the jail cell, Goofy and Donald were able to see the keys sitting on the table not to far across the room…with a little persuasion, Eddy was through the bars, trying his best to break Donald and Goofy out of their lavish prison.

As they crossed the bridge, more heartless spawned on the grass at the opposite side…some even spawned in the sky around the bridge, causing it to sway violently back and forth…

Riku, Kairi and Sora dashed straight for the heartless on the land. Sora and Riku plowed through the center, creating a large hole for them to work from…spinning and slashing, they took out several neo-shadows each. Kairi called a few 'thundara' attacks out, frying the heartless that were swooping past Kuzco and Pacha, still on the rocking rope bridge…

As Sora and Riku wiped out the rest of the neo-shadows with ease, Kairi missed a mosquito heartless as it zipped by, clipping one of the ropes holding the bridge up. She zapped it with her last lightening bolt as Kuzco and Pacha made their way toward the edge…slowly, trying not to rock the bridge any more than they had to…

Without warning, the plank Pacha was standing on snapped in two, as he fell straight downward…grabbing at the vines and ropes, he ended up swinging in a painful looking hammock that hung from the end of the bridge.

"Kuzco! Help me up!" he called as he heard more ropes start to snap.

Kuzco looked down with a panicked look on his face. "Uh…yeah! I'll go get help!" he said, running toward Sora and his friends. Karma struck back as the plank Kuzco was standing on snapped, leaving him a similar predicament to Pacha's.

"You alright, Kuzco?" Pacha asked.

"Yeah…yeah I think I'm okay…thanks…" he replied as Pacha's fist slammed into his face.

"You dirty, rotten, double-crossing llama! You were gonna leave me here!"

The fight was cut short, however, as the entire bridge snapped, sending Pacha and Kuzco tumbling down into the river below…but with a jarring shudder they became lodged between the stone walls of the valley. The walls tapered downwards from each side of the bridge, forming a massive v-shape underneath. They stood back to back, each of them with their feet on an opposite wall of the valley…if they lost their footing, they would separately fall down through the small opening at the bottom…that would have landed them directly into the mouths of several hungry crocodiles…

"We've gotta work together and walk up the valley…" Pacha said, pushing his weight into Kuzco. Kuzco finally pushed back as they slowly inched up the valley.

"Gee, it's a good thing you're not a big, fat guy, or this could be difficult…" he droned sarcastically.

Up above, Sora hung down, holding his keyblade as low as he could reach, trying to give Pacha something to grab when they got high enough.

"C'mon guys…you can do it…" he encouraged them from above, as Riku held his feet steady. A few steps later, Pacha reached out as much as he could, finally grasping the keyblade as Sora and Riku pulled him and Kuzco up to safety.

Kuzco walked up to Pacha after they had caught their breath. "I'm sorry about the whole 'leaving you to die' thingy…you really cared if I was alright this whole time, didn't you?"

Pacha nodded. "You can trust us, Kuzco. We're your friends. You'll find out what that means, someday."

The five of them began walking the dirt path, wary of any new dangers that the Burning Man might send their way before they reached the temple…


	56. Chapter LVI: Temple Of Boom

CHAPTER LVI

TEMPLE OF BOOM

Donald and Goofy sneaked stealthily around the corner of the jail, Eddy hovering nearby. "Okay, let's go…" Donald whispered in his heavy lisp, leading them down a long hallway.

Up ahead, they saw two large shadows of men wearing the golden headdress…guards. "Quick, hide!" Goofy whispered hurriedly, pushing them into a small, unmarked doorway. As they walked through it, they realized that it wasn't anything like the rest of the temple – the walls were a gray stone as opposed to the pricey brown and gold slabs that adorned the rest of the temple. After walking for what seemed like ten minutes down the gray path, they came across a large stone carving in the wall.

It stood out facing them like a guardian – an ugly boar with two massive spiked tusks. On the ground surrounding the statue there were several stone squares, forming a semi-circle.

Goofy examined the tusks, touching them very slightly. "Looks like a lever…" he said, pulling the tusk on the right. As the three of them were sucked downward into one of the now open squares, they somehow got the feeling that they had pulled the wrong lever…

Their fears were confirmed as they splashed down in a waist high pool of water, teeming with crocodiles from the river. They lunged at Donald with their razor sharp teeth as he swung his staff, knocking them backwards. Goofy bounced his shield off of the wall, cracking two of the crocs in the head with it. Suddenly, Donald started to snicker with delight.

"Goofy, jump!" he said, jumping in unison with his dog companion. As they were at their highest, Donald cried 'thunder!', shocking the pool of water and knocking out all of the crocodiles that lay within.

They climbed the nearby dark, musty stair case up to a small doorway that opened in the wall, letting them back into the boar's head chamber.

"I don't even know why they have that lever…" Goofy said as Eddy buzzed around his head. He pulled the other lever, sending them down a much shorter fall.

Goofy and Donald landed in the seats of what looked like a rollercoaster – a small, two person cart that sat at the very top of a long, winding track made of granite. A small metal bar clamped shut on their laps, holding them tightly, as Donald shoved Eddy between them. Preparing for the worst, Donald held on tight as the cart was launched forward and downward, spiraling down the long, narrow path.

Next to him, Goofy was hooting and raising his hands over his head. "Gawrsh! This is some fun, ain't it Donald?" he yelled over the winds whipping him in the face. Goofy had never seen a green duck before – but Donald looked so sick as they spun through an overhead loop, he thought he would explode at any moment. The cart took them over several gaps where there was no ground at all, and the weightlessness caused Goofy to grab the bar.

Abruptly, the cart screeched to a stop at the bottom of the ride, only a few feet above the stone floor. As the cart stopped, the bar lifted and shot Goofy and Donald out to the ground like a pair of pinballs. As they stood up, the realized that the fall had outfitted them somehow in a strange set of white lab coats and even stranger goggles. They pulled these odd garments off as they explored the hidden chamber, keeping their ears at the ready in case someone found them.

Eddy zipped along past them, out of the cart. The three of them rounded a corner and were shocked to see what lie ahead – a massive science lab, complete with glass beakers, tubes and burners all flowing with multi-colored liquids. Pink liquids were pouring into a large tub at the end of the massive bench. The room was dark, lit only by the neon colors of the various experiments.

A chalkboard stood in the corner, bearing the image of a sloppily drawn Kuzco. Next to that was a plus sign, followed by a little vial of liquid they had assumed to be poison.

"Gawrsh…check this out, Donald…" Goofy said, marveling at a massive stone cabinet. It was shaped like an owl, though it stood almost a foot taller than Goofy. As he carefully opened the wing-like doors of the cabinet, Donald's face as well as his was illuminated with a strange pink glow. In the cabinet were hundreds of tiny, glass vials – each containing a pink liquid topped off with a brown cork. Under each of the vials was a different picture; some depicted elephants, some showed birds, and some looked like dogs. One in particular had taken Goofy's interest – the picture seemed to show the image of a human being standing on two feet.

"What do ya think dey are?" Donald asked quietly.

"Well…Kronk said that he messed up and turned Kuzco into a llama…right?" he lightly picked up a vial that sat on the shelf above a picture of a llama. "Maybe he gave him this potion?"

"But what if it's poison?" Donald asked, Eddy bouncing next to him in agreement. Eddy's excitement grew as he saw Yzma over Goofy's shoulder entering like a silent snake slithering through the grass…

He bounced around, silently, trying to get Goofy and Donald to turn around. They were too busy staring into the potion cabinet…if only he could get their attention…

Without giving it too much more thought, Eddy rammed headfirst into the potion cabinet, causing it to rock back and forth, dropping vials all over the floor. They clinked together as they rolled around, causing Donald and Goofy to drop to the ground, trying to pick them up.

"Peasants! You'll never find the one you need…if you haven't noticed, they're not individually labeled…" Yzma bellowed from behind them.

"Why didn't you tell us she was there!" Donald screamed at Eddy. All Eddy did was close his eyes and count to ten…

"Guards! Take them away!" Yzma called out into the darkness. Eight guards appeared behind Donald, Goofy and Eddy…

"Take 'em all!" Goofy howled, stuffing his pockets full of vials as Donald did the same. They had gotten most of the vials when the guards became too close for comfort…in a stunning display of 'not thinking', Donald tossed a handful of vials toward the guard's feet, engulfing them in a cloud of pink smoke…

When the smoke cleared, the guards were gone – in their place were eight different animals, each wearing the silly golden headdress, still clutching spears, axes and maces like they had been a moment before.

The cow, snake, octopus, badger, monkey, horse, toucan and the bear all looked at each other, blinking with disbelief. The cow guard looked down at his hooves that still allowed him to clutch his battle axe.

"Uh…I'm a cow…can I go home?" he asked.

The lead guard, now turned into a little brown monkey, smacked him in the back of the head. "Get them, you fools! Yzma's orders!"

With the animal guards chasing them, Donald, Goofy and Eddy ran through the door they had come in from, heading for the light of outdoors…


	57. Chapter LVII: The Home Stretch

CHAPTER LVII

THE HOME STRETCH

Kuzco hummed an annoying song as he, Sora, Kairi, Riku and Pacha walked over the grassy hills in front of the temple. "I'm almost ho-ome, no more stinky llama…" he sang, making up the words as he went.

"Can you give it a rest? That's driving me nuts…" Riku said, knowing that Kuzco wouldn't stop singing unless he was good and ready. "How are you planning on turning back again? Yzma's probably the only one that would know…and she's the one that did it to you!"

Kuzco stopped singing as he thought about it. "I dunno…I bet it'll work out though…"

Everyone including Pacha rolled their eyes at Kuzco's blind optimism.

Moments later, they heard a familiar panicked quacking sound as Donald came into view over the hills. Behind him were Goofy and Eddy, running as if the temple was on fire…

"Hey! Donald! Goofy! Over here!" Sora called excitedly as they reunited with their friends. "How'd you escape?"

"Hades captured Kronk…it was easy after dat…" Donald panted.

"Plus we found Yzma's lab – it had these potions that turn ya into an animal…" Goofy added as the guards came charging into view. "Speakin' of which…we got company!"

Sora jumped upward and slammed his keyblade down in front of the bear guard – the battle axe it used gleamed in the sunlight as he swung it, nearly chopping Sora's hair off.

Kairi dove around Sora and the bear to take on the snake and the toucan – the snake was only able to wrap itself around her arm, hindering her from swinging her keyblade as the toucan pecked at her body, a heavy mace hanging from his talons. Kairi called out 'fira!' as the flames spread out from her keyblade, incinerating the snake. She leaped up into the air, smacking the toucan in the beak…but it was strong, holding her at bay with his swinging mace…

Goofy and Donald engaged the crafty badger and the monkey. The two smaller animals were circling Goofy and Donald, holding their spears out and closing the gap between them…Donald tried to bat the badger away with his long Missile Wand, but it was too long to swing quickly…Goofy managed to peg the monkey in the face with his shield, but it barely phased him…

Pacha and Kuzco were being backed away from the fight by the horse and cow guards…the horse stood on all fours, but the cow was able to stand on his hind legs, swinging another massive axe over his head. Pacha launched into a series of devastating blows against the cow, knocking it backwards…it was way too slow to stand a chance against Pacha, and it knew that…suddenly, the horse dashed by the cow, allowing it to sit on its back, like a jockey…or, perhaps, a jouster. The horse pulled fast circles around Kuzco and Pacha, allowing the cow to strike them with the blunt edge of its axe, hurting them badly…

Riku struggled on top of the highest hill while battling the octopus – it held six knives in its tentacles, swinging them wildly. Even Riku's fast reactionary skills weren't enough to dodge the arms as they flailed around him. He got slashed with the knives over and over until he realized a weakness…taking a step back, he called out 'magnet!' drawing the octopus' six daggers into the field, tentacles still hanging on to them. With a quick flip he jumped up and landed on it's arms, pinning them all to the ground…it was quick work after that – a beam of 'darkara' to the face made the octopus no longer a threat.

Kairi had managed to knock the mace from the toucan's claws, but now that it wasn't weighed down, she saw how fast it truly was – in a multi colored blur it zoomed past her face repeatedly, occasionally coming rather close and knocking her off balance. Kairi concentrated…staring straight at where the bird was going to be, rather than where it was…and then swung, connecting with the bird's beak, sending it smashing into the ground, defeated.

Goofy and Donald were being lashed at left and right by the badger and the monkey…they couldn't move without being slashed with the badger's sword as it swung around like a whirlwind…against all his greater instincts, Goofy reached into his pocket and pulled out two more vials, tossing them at the ground, engulfing the guards in another puff of pink smoke. However, this time they had been changed for the worse – a small beetle crawled along the edge of the badger's sword next to a fat little mouse. Donald and Goofy left them there, defenseless, as they rushed over to help Sora.

The bear was easily the strongest of the group, though not the smartest…Sora had knocked his axe clear across the field with a strong backswing. Gearing up for a finishing blow, he swung his Bloom of Unity as hard as he could. But as Sora swung his keyblade, the bear ferociously clamped it in his teeth, holding Sora's arm captive. Sora recoiled as the bear slashed at his chest with his open paw, not wanting to let go of the keyblade…

Remembering the best part of the keyblade, he let it go and stepped backward as it disappeared from the bear's mouth, causing him to chomp down on his own tongue. As the Bloom of Unity was summoned back to Sora's hand, he slashed at the bear with a fervor until it was gone for good.

Only the horse and cow posed a threat any longer…they saw that they were seriously outnumbered, as Sora, Riku, Kairi Donald and Goofy all started to jog over to help Pacha and Kuzco… Turning on his hooves, the horse made a bee-line for the palace, trying to put as much distance between himself and the peasants as possible…

Kuzco looked up at Pacha. "I'm gonna regret this…get on!" he said, Pacha not missing a beat while he climbed onto the llama's back. It was a quick race – Kuzco and Pacha caught up with the horse and cow in no time…with his staff, Pacha simply tripped the horse, sending them both flying into a pile of rocks up ahead, eliminating the last of the guards.

As the friends gathered atop the highest hill, they were able to see the stairs leading up to the temple…it wouldn't be long now…

"Stop right there, you meddling peasants…" Yzma's jagged voice called out, as she came into view over the top of another hill. "It's over now…Kronk's disappeared and I'm the only other one who knows that he's a llama…I'll be crowned Empress in just a few days time…and there's nothing you can do to stop me…"

Donald reached into Goofy's pocket…there were still dozens of vials left…one of them had to be the one to make Kuzco human, but there was no way to tell which one it was. He thought about tossing them all at Yzma, making her decide, but the ground suddenly shook as a massive black portal opened up in front of them, engulfing any hills and valleys in its way. Riku immediately put away his keyblade, just in case…

Sure enough, Hades popped out of the portal first, holding a long leash. The leash started to curl upwards as a gigantic heartless rose from the depths – it looked like the head of the temple – golden headdress, a set of open, circular eyes, and a long mouth. But the torso was bulging with black, rippling muscles. The blood-red tunic it wore had a heartless insignia right in the middle, leading down to a pair of thick, brown legs that seemed to hang limply, barely touching the ground. The arms, too, hung by the creatures side while its head lolled back and forth on its shoulders.

"What the heck is that?" Kuzco said as he was force fed a potion by Pacha. He turned into a goldfish as he flopped around on the ground.

"It's Kronk…" Kairi said, looking up at the enormous puppet heartless.


	58. Chapter LVIII: Puppetmaster Hades

CHAPTER LVIII

PUPPETMASTER HADES

Hades yanked on the leash that led to Heartless Kronk as it sprung to life – the arms flexed in an impressive display as the legs stomped out into a battle stance.

"Hey, hey! I'm good at this! Am I right, or am I right?" Hades yelled as Heartless Kronk's massive arm smashed down, flattening a hill and sending Sora and his friends flying backwards. "Whoa! This I like!"

After Pacha had turned Kuzco into a walrus and a penguin, they landed a few hundred feet away from Hades and the Heartless Kronk. Yzma seemed to be running back toward the temple…Sora quickly formulated a plan.

"Pacha, you take Kuzco to safety and try to find the right potion to turn him back," he said as Pacha scooped up the penguin Kuzco and ran away from the hills. "Donald, Goofy, you go stop Yzma from getting more guards!"

"You got it!" Donald saluted.

"Okay, pal!" Goofy said.

"Kairi, can you and Riku keep Heartless Kronk busy while I take down Hades?"

They nodded, dashing off toward their respective objectives.

"Can I borrow this?" Riku said, pointing to Pacha's staff.

"Sure thing, buddy…" Pacha said, handing it to him.

Sora ran toward Hades, almost being stepped on several times as the Heartless Kronk flailed his legs wildly. Finally making it through to the area behind Heartless Kronk, Sora came face to face with Hades, holding a small box that was connected to the leash – almost like a remote control…

"Hades! Knock it off!" Sora screamed, swinging his keyblade at Hades, connecting with his torso. Hades flinched, dropping the control box as the Heartless Kronk stopped moving entirely.

Riku and Kairi wordlessly agreed to climb the arms of the immobile heartless, digging their weapons into its swirling, black flesh when the climb became too vertical…they had made it all to way to its shoulders as they started to slash rabidly at its neck…

"This one?" asked Kuzco.

"Goose," replied Pacha.

"How 'bout this one?"

"Pig…"

"C'mon, you stink at this…lemme pick the next one…" Kuzco said, draining another pink bottle into his mouth. Turning into an earthworm, he looked up at Pacha. "I hate you…"

"Get back here!" Donald said, panting to catch up to Yzma. They were halfway up the stairs to the temple before Goofy tossed his mako shield, tripping her flat on her face. "Gotcha!" Donald said, pinning her to the ground.

"Or is it I who have got you?" she cackled, reaching into her dress as she pulled out a small, pink vial… "You didn't get all of my vials…" she said, drinking it down…

In a puff of pink smoke, she was transformed into a large elephant, Donald still riding on her back as she turned to run down Goofy…

Hades couldn't keep up with the speed at which Sora was throwing his keyblade around…as Sora connected with Hades' head, the Burning Mask fell to the ground in two pieces, for the first time revealing Hade's ugly, blue face. His tiny, sharp teeth turned into a sinister smile as his blue flaming hair turned red…with a mighty bellow, he stuck his arms out and cried 'feel the heat!', sending white-hot flames all around him, knocking Sora back into the Heartless Kronk's leg…

Riku and Kairi kept slashing at the heartless' face, trying to do some damage…when Hades wasn't controlling it, it didn't do much…but its health was insanely high…it would take them hours of slashing at its inanimate body to defeat it…especially since Riku had to use Pacha's staff instead of his keyblade…

"Get me offa dis thing!" Donald cried, grabbing onto the Elephant Yzma's ears as she stampeded down the stairway. Her trunk flipped backwards, smacking her own backside as she tried to knock Donald off, but he wouldn't let go. Goofy had tripped, but continued to roll all the way down the stairs, gaining velocity as he went, making sure not to look back at the ferocious elephant trying to trample him…

Hades picked up the control box just as Sora had stood up…the blow was powerful, Sora realized, rubbing his injured shoulder…as he wound up to slash once more at Hades, a black cloud formed beneath his feet, lifting him and the control box gracefully into the sky…

"How's the weather down there, small fry?" Hades laughed, shooting fireballs down at Sora as he started the Heartless Kronk up again.

"Now!" Kuzco said with exasperation in his voice.

"Gorilla…" Pacha said, growing weary as well, tipping yet another vial down his throat.

"Well?"

"Llama…"

"Yay! I'm a llama again!" Kuzco cheered. "Wait…"

As they connected a few more slashes to the sleeping giant, Riku and Kairi were caught off guard as the head started to move, spitting ice in all directions as it spun like a possessed demon…Kairi managed to use a reflera spell to stay on the heartless' shoulder, but Riku wasn't so lucky…as he fell, he tried with all his might to grab onto something…anything…

"Riku!" Sora said, looking up at Riku as he shot down past Hades. "I gotcha, buddy!" Sora positioned himself below Riku, catching him right before he hit the ground – suddenly, as they touched, white light engulfed the hillside, blinding Hades temporarily…

As the light dimmed, there stood Sora – decked out from head to toe in an orange outfit with black accents near the cuffs. He held two keyblades – one of them backhanded, the other forward – the Dawn of Kings and his very own Bloom of Unity. He felt stronger than ever as he masterfully swung the keyblades around him, looking up at Hades and then down to his own feet – his own feet which weren't touching the ground. Instantly he realized that he could fly in this form as he shot up like an arrow toward Hades' black cloud.

Yzma pounded Goofy into the side of the hill with her trunk, stopping abruptly in her tracks as she sent Donald flying off of her back. They landed a few feet away from Pacha and Kuzco…Kuzco in his human form! Gathering all the remaining vials up, Kuzco took a step toward the dizzy elephant…

"How can I say this…you're fired…we've gone a different way…don't call us, we won't call you…buh-bye!" he said, throwing every vial at her feet. In a huge cloud of pink smoke, they saw Yzma change forms rapidly…a dinosaur…a flamingo…a rhino and a leopard…a sloth…and finally, a little white kitten.

"Aww! You so cute! Yes you are! Maybe you can be my royal fluffy-wuffy kitty-witty!" Kuzco teased her, causing her to hiss her dissent. The kitten turned and ran off into the jungle, defenseless as…well, a kitten.


	59. Chapter LIX: Letting The Reins Go Loose

CHAPTER LIX

LETTINGS THE REINS GO LOOSE

Hades turned his entire body to a red, billowing flame as the floating Sora gracefully glided around him, pummeling him with his dual keyblades. The flames kept the blades from slashing into Hades' weak, fleshy body as he controlled the Heartless Kronk, sending it after the annoying little insects on the ground…

Kairi did an impressive flip as she landed on a hilltop next to Donald and Goofy. "Pacha, get Kuzco to safety…you've done all you can," Kairi said.

"But-" Pacha tried to protest.

"Now! Go!" she said, pushing Pacha as hard as she could toward the temple. Sensing that she was right, Pacha and Kuzco took off running for safety.

Donald, Goofy and Kairi couldn't get near the Heartless Kronk without being crushed by its massive feet…Hades was trying with all his might to crush them, still fighting off Flight Sora with his flames…

"Goofy, hit him with everything you got!" Donald yelled, as Goofy charged his shield…letting it go as soon as he had a clear view of Hades. The mako shield zoomed through the air at an intense speed, as Kairi and Donald clinked their keyblade and wand together, screaming 'blizzaja!'. The most powerful version of the ice attack drained them of all their magic power, causing them to collapse on the ground from exhaustion…but their job had been done…

Up in the sky, the dual-blizzaja attack caught up with the shield, still rocketing towards Hades – instantly, the shield became frozen as blustery white winds whipped all around the powerful enchanted shield…preoccupied with Sora, still slashing away, Hades never saw it coming…

It slammed into the god of death, putting out all of his flames in one fell swoop. Even the hair on his head died out, causing him to look quite unimpressive. In a fit of rage, he swung the Heartless Kronk's arm sideways, knocking the incapacitated Donald, Goofy and Kairi almost fully to the base of the temple.

Seizing the opportunity, Flight Sora slashed at Hades with all his might, knocking him further and further away from the puppet heartless. When the black cord had become stretched to the limit, Sora simultaneously slashed through the control box with his backhand, smashing it to bits while it was still in Hades' hands; with the other keyblade he connected with Hades face, knocking him clear off his black cloud as he fell one hundred feet to the ground below.

Diving down at his flameless body, Sora brought both his keyblades behind his back, aiming straight for Hades like a lawn dart.

Grimacing with pain, Hades looked up at Sora, his eyes pleading for mercy while he mouth did the opposite. "Kid, you got gaul…but the rest of the Legion will finish what I was sent to start…" he coughed. "See you in the underworld, champ…"

And with that, Sora brought his blades together, slamming straight through Hades torso, destroying him on impact. The Legion suit dematerialized as the tribal markings flew upward into the sky, turning into smaller and smaller particles as they went up. When Sora looked back down at Hades, he saw nothing but an empty, black toga. Sora, still wearing his orange suit, turned his friends, hoping to celebrate their victory.

But when he looked back toward the temple, he saw a terrible sight – the Heartless Kronk, no longer controlled by Hades, had gone berserk as it headed straight for Kuzco's palace. It wildly swung its arms around it, running drunkenly as it went. Sora took off into the air once more, zooming straight for the heartless' head…

In the temple, Pacha and Kuzco looked through a window in the audience chamber, hoping to see what was going on…they hadn't hoped, however, to see a massive heartless charging straight at them…as it neared the steps to the palace, Kuzco ran to a large cord hanging on the wall near his indoor swimming pool. He pulled it as a loud flushing sound rang through Pacha's ears…

Outside, Kairi, Donald and Goofy got up, their bodies aching with pain. They heard the faint sound of rushing water, and as they looked at the temple, they saw the source – the nose of the temple was evacuating every drop of water from the temple in a torrential flood. As it raced down the stairway, it looked more like a raging river than a temple stairway, the powerful water pulling the signs and banners out of the ground as it went.

"Watch out!" Kairi yelled, grabbing Donald and Goofy. She pulled them behind the edge of the stairway as they watched the torrent of water flash by them, heading straight for the Heartless Kronk's feet…

With a stunning sense of timing, Sora saw the water coming as he charged both keyblades behind his head, aiming for the headdress…as the river raged beneath his feet, he swung, connecting with the Heartless Kronk's backside, the water making the ground slippery beneath him.

In an awkward move, the heartless lost its footing as he fell face first, smashing down into the ground directly in front of the stairway. The water rushed over him, pinning him to the ground…

Just before a white light engulfed him, Sora shot his arms outward and cried 'thundaja!', causing a powerful lightening attack to begin. The clouds above shot down multiple bolts of lightening at the Heartless Kronk, the water enhancing the strength of each blow. One by one, the bolts smashed into the heartless, until finally, the river stopped…leaving behind a puddle of black sludge.

Touching down on the soggy ground as the white light subsided, Sora and Riku smiled at each other as a massive silver heart broke free from the darkness and rose into the sky. Spinning his keyblade playfully, Sora pointed it at the heart – a white beam shot out, connecting with the heart, as it quickly sucked it back into the harvester.

"Nice form, Sora," Kairi said as she, Donald and Goofy met up with Sora and Riku in front of the temple steps. "You look good in orange," she said, flirting with him for the first time in weeks.

"Yeah…definitely not bad, bro," Riku said, giving his best friend a high five.

"Look what we found in Yzma's lab!" Donald said to Sora, holding out a small keychain. It looked like one of Yzma's pink vials, only it had a silver clip attached to it.

"All yours, Riku…" Sora said, handing it to his friend. As Riku attached it to his keyblade, the Dawn of Kings was replaced by the Potent Potion, a long, pink blade that bubbled when it was swung. The handle and grip were both a firm, clear glass, and the key atop the blade was shaped like three glass bottles, each filled with a translucent pink liquid.

Pacha and Kuzco came into view, descending the steps with immense smiles on their faces. "Glad to see you're safe," Pacha said, hugging each of them tightly.

"If it wasn't for that water, we wouldn't have been…so thanks to you, too…" Sora said, smiling.

Kuzco puffed out his chest. "Yeah, I did kind of save the day, didn't I?" Seeing everyone scowl at his ego, he dropped the act. "Well, I guess you guys helped a little…"

"Kuzco, why don't you tell 'em the good news?" Pacha said, ribbing Kuzco with his elbow.

"Ohh…right…well, I've decided to not destroy Pacha's village to build my summer home. The hilltop was…uh, too sunny." Eddy bounced into his headdress spastically.

Nobody believed him for a second, but they were glad he changed his mind – even if he didn't want to admit that he was finally being compassionate. Pacha smiled even wider as he reached behind him and pulled out the Flame Salamander, holding it out to Sora.

"I guess you can have this thingy, too…" Kuzco said, obviously unhappy about giving away a piece of his treasure. "But don't forget that I, the great Emperor Kuzco, gave it to you!"

"Thanks, your highness…" Sora said, claiming the Flame Salamander. "We definitely won't. But we've gotta go – there are more people like Hades out there, and I'm sure they're causing just as much trouble."

After saying their good byes, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Eddy all boarded the Barrett. Riku placed the Flame Salamander next to the Wind Butterfly in the holding bay, still wondering what kind of powers they held as the Barrett left the Incan Empire, shooting into the night sky above.


	60. Chapter LX: Losing Ground

CHAPTER LX

LOSING GROUND

Master Maximilian slammed his fast onto the table in the meeting room of the Nexus Machine. Moments before, a stream of tribal markings that had previously been on the Burning Man's toga had appeared above the table, separating outwards and affixing themselves equally onto each of the Legion Knight's outfits.

Master Maximilian knew what this meant – Hades had been defeated. The Dark One still avoided his grasp, no matter what he threw at him…

"Legion Knights…Hades has fallen to the keyblade masters. We accept Hades' strength into ourselves as we acknowledge his sacrifice…" he proclaimed, as the Legion Knights all bowed their heads in silence. "Further more, it has become clear that the Dark One's team has claimed two of the artifacts out from beneath our noses…" he muttered, staring at Pete's oblivious face.

"The loss of the Flame Salamander is a great one…" Maximilian said, sounding dark.

"Though not all of the news we have today is bad, Maximilian…" said the Strange Man. This was the first time any of the lesser Legion Knights had heard his voice – it was high-pitched and dramatic. Master Maximilian would have cut the throats of any Knight that called him anything less than master…though, when the Strange Man did it, Maximilian just stayed perfectly still…

"I personally have located the Frozen Eel…no, no applause necessary…" he said, his fingers pitched in a tent as he slowly walked around the table. "I'll be more than happy to decide who can go to claim it…"

Maximilian stood up, his throne-sized chair sliding backwards against the metallic floor of the meeting room. "Know your place, Knight…" he said, his voice nearly quaking with rage. "I decide which Knight is suited to each mission…"

"And judging by Hades' fate, you're doing a marvelous job…" said the Strange Man, stopping at the opposite side of the table. His hands gripped the back of the chair tightly as he stared into Master Maximilian's smiling mask.

"A minor loss. I would feel no more regret if I had fallen in that battle myself…" he shot back.

"Tell me then…why don't you go to Emptiness Crossing and claim the Frozen Eel yourself? Surely the leader of an organization such as this is powerful enough…"

"Too powerful, Strange. Don't forget that while you're in the World That Never Was. My strength is wasted with such…chores," he said, refusing to sit.

The Strange Man's head titled forward and then rocked backwards as he started to chuckle. His laugh turned maniacal, rattling the windows on the Nexus Machine – it was eerie…harsh…high pitched and frightening, even to Maximilian. It sounded…empty.

"Are you scoffing at my orders, Knight?" Maximilian said, his voice stoic.

"As funny as it is, no. I merely laugh at the fact that you can see that the mission is child's play for a man such as yourself…yet, you fail to realize that it will be even less challenging for a man of my stature," he said, turning immediately to head for the door. As it slid open, he stepped out, heading for the bay of the Nexus Machine, where a small fighter ship lay in wait for him…

Maximilian sat down in his throne angrily once again staring out the window as a one-man ship piloted by the Strange Man flew by…

"Yep, that's two down…" Sora said to King Mickey over his micro-com. "Three, if you count Riku…"

Riku didn't acknowledge Sora's comment as he piloted the ship through a small asteroid belt. Heartless vessels were coming from everywhere, firing their lasers and cannons at the Barrett…but with the new slash gummi and the laser turret, it was simply a matter of outlasting them. Kairi sat next to him, alerting him when any ships got too close.

Goofy cleared a path through the asteroids with a concentrated laser beam – luckily, it also pierced through six or seven heartless ships on the way.

Donald was getting the hang of the slash gummis – though it was still a chore to hear him pronounce the word 'slash' – as he sat in the new cockpit mounted on the Barrett. He couldn't see Goofy, but when a laser bolt fried a heartless in front of Donald's cockpit, he swore he heard him hollering with glee.

"Excellent, Sora…" Mickey said, but the rest of what he was saying was muffled by someone else's voice over the intercom.

"Sora! Ya there, buddy?" Biggs' voice came through, though the noise in the background made it hard to hear him…

"Biggs! Yeah, go ahead," Sora said, anxious to see if they had any news for him.

"Not much time…ya gotta come and help us…the entire village is being destroyed, some guy with a weird mask…" the line faded in and out as Sora was able to identify the sounds of screaming and smashing wood in the background. The line suddenly shut off – when Sora reactivated the micro-com, Biggs didn't respond.

"Set a course for Emptiness Crossing, Riku," Sora said, sitting next to Kairi on the bridge. He realized he forgot to turn his micro-com off when Cid's voice popped through it.

"Hey – the warp gummi I installed in there can help ya out…just press it when your coordinates for a world are locked in. It'll take ya there in a jiffy…though it only works on worlds ya already been ta…" Cid said as Yuffie pouted in the corner of the gummi hangar in Disney Courtyard.

"Thanks, Cid…that'll save us some time," Riku said, slamming his hand on the green button that read 'WARP GUMMI'. A few seconds later, the stars stretched into long, white streaks as they shot between them at light speeds…when they stopped stretching and the ship halted to a stop (in a rather abrupt fashion…), they realized they were only a few miles out from the World That Never Was.

Diving down as fast as the ship's engines would take them, Sora began scouring the horizon for any sign of Emptiness Crossing, or the havoc therein…but all the surrounding buildings were too tall. Emptiness Crossing was situated in the middle of a huge circle of buildings, Sora remembered, as they jumped down from the Barrett's hatch.

"Donald, Goofy, stay with Eddy while we check things out!" Sora yelled over his shoulder as he tore down the streets, Kairi and Riku hot on his tail.

"Ugh…slow…down!" Kairi panted, trying to keep up…Sora was running as though lives depended on him…he had a feeling that they did…

Taking the corners by physically stepping on the wall and pushing off, Sora never slowed down once as he navigated the narrow alleyway to Emptiness Crossing – only when he saw the ruins of the city did he finally slow to a stop.

Every building had been leveled – the gazebo which had been rebuilt was billowing in flames, as were some of the building sites. Biggs and Wedge stood a few meters into the square, holding their weapons out as they anticipated an attack. In Wedge's slender backpack, Riku noticed the gleam of a heavy looking bronze statue…he could only see the top of it as it poked out, but…was that an Eel's head marked with a shard of ice?

"Biggs! Wedge! You alright?" Sora called, summoning his keyblade. They didn't turn around when they replied.

"He killed them all…" Biggs said.

"All of them…killed…" Wedge halfheartedly mimicked.

"This…bastard…he slew the entire town!" Biggs said, screaming it so that the subject could hear.

"Who? Where is he?" Riku asked, taking caution not to summon his keyblade too soon.

"He's here…somewhere…" Wedge said, looking around at the wreckage, trying to see any sign of the man. The piles of rubble were so high and plentiful that there were plenty of hiding spaces…

The flames in the center of the gazebo parted slightly as a tall, slender man walked through them. He walked elegantly, his hips swaying in a most feminine manner – his mask bore the bright red lips they had seen back in Disney Castle. They remembered the term 'the Strange Man', and indeed, it was very fitting.

"The Frozen Eel and the Dark One, in one fell swoop? Dare I count my chickens before they have hatched?" he said in his eerie, higher-than-normal pitched voice.

"Forget it, Strange Man…we took out Hades and we'll do the same to you!" Sora said, not entirely sure of that fact.


	61. Chapter LXI: Stranger Than Strange

CHAPTER LXI

STRANGER THAN STRANGE

"Why do you care? What good has life brought you?" the Strange Man taunted, taking another step toward the friends. Biggs and Wedge had smartly backed up so that they were next to Sora, Riku and Kairi.

"What are you getting at?" Riku demanded.

"I mean…you struggle so hard to defend your way of life…but your way of life is so flawed…so futile…so…" he paused, searching for the word. "Meaningless."

"Shut up!" Sora said, pointing his keyblade at the Strange Man.

"A compelling argument. What good is talking, either?" he said, not expecting an answer. Turning his head back toward Sora, he said, "you must be the keyblade master…"

"One of 'em…" he said, smiling at Riku and Kairi from the corner of his mouth.

"Ask yourself what that will matter when you're trapped in limbo, doomed to live out your days in a pitiless, never-ending existence." he said, breaking out into an evil laugh. His head rocked back and forth like a ragdoll until he became silent.

"Why did you kill them…" Wedge said, choking on the words.

"They wouldn't cooperate. I sought the Frozen Eel; they knew nothing; they died. Simple cause and effect. They're lucky – they don't have to be a part of this charade any longer…"

"Lucky!" Biggs screamed. "You son-of-a-bitch!" he bellowed, dashing at him with his golden hammers drawn. Before he could even think about where he was going to strike, the man swung his leg over his head, cracking Biggs across the jaw with the heel of his foot. Biggs slid across the pavement, completely incapacitated.

"GYAHH!" Wedge screamed, doing his best impersonation of a ninja as he leapt into the air, trying to catch the Strange Man off guard. It was no use, however – before even letting his foot touch the ground from the first attack, he launched it upward, digging it directly into Wedge's stomach, hurling him upwards…as he spun helplessly in the air, his backpack dropped its most prized possession…the Frozen Eel…right into the Strange Man's slim fingers.

As Wedge flopped down to the ground, lifeless, the Strange Man turned toward Riku, Sora and Kairi.

"Anyone else want to give it the good old college try?" he said, opening a black portal.

Riku, Sora and Kairi stood there, motionless. Riku would have ripped the man's head off his shoulders, if he could summon his keyblade around him…he had a feeling that the Strange Man felt the same way.

He hesitated for a minute, genuinely waiting for them to reply. When they didn't, he said, "suit yourselves. You'll just die later…" He stepped into the portal, disappearing with the Frozen Eel. Riku, Sora and Kairi dashed over to Biggs and Wedge, who had remained motionless the whole time.

"Let's get them back to the Barrett…" Sora said, slinging Biggs' arm over his shoulder. Riku put Wedge on his back as they slowly trudged between the wreckage, heading for the Barrett. When they arrived, Donald, Goofy and Eddy were impatiently standing in the cargo bay.

"Cast as much cure on them as you can afford. It doesn't look good, but they're still breathing," Sora said to Eddy and Donald, just as Biggs started to cough up blood. He wiped it from his mouth as Biggs sat up, struggling against every aching bone in his body.

"Where is he…I'll shove that stupid mask down his goddamn throat…" he said weakly, falling back onto some pillows Kairi had brought down from the sleeping quarters.

"Relax," she said, adding her curing magic to Eddy and Donald's. "He's gone…but at least you're alive…"

Wedge sat up, looking around the ship's interior nervously. "Where are we going?" he asked, panic dripping from his words.

"Nowhere, yet…but we were planning to take you guys back to Disney Courtyard…it's safe there," Riku explained as he folded a wet cloth and handed it to Wedge.

"No. Take us to Figment Plateau…it's on the other side of this world, past the castle…we have friends there…" he said, collapsing from the strain of sitting upright.

"Figment Plateau?" Goofy asked, perplexed. "Ya mean there's another hidden city in the World That Never Was?"

All Wedge could do was nod while unzipping one of the pockets on his vest. He pulled out a small, gray sheet of paper with coordinates scrawled neatly on the front. Sora took the paper and headed straight for the deck – there was no time to lose.

After punching the coordinates in, Sora raised the ship so that it was higher than most of the taller buildings in the World That Never Was. It took off, slowly weaving through the sky over the remains of Emptiness Crossing. As the ship passed by the castle, Sora turned his head upwards in hopes of seeing Kingdom Hearts – but the thick, dark clouds overhead prevented any chance of that. Idly twirling the sheet with the coordinates in his hand, he noticed another short message written hastily on the back:

"Your friend, Lae."


	62. Chapter LXII: A Keen Eye For Detail

CHAPTER LXII

A KEEN EYE FOR DETAIL

Cloud paced up and down the cargo hold of the Fenretto. There wasn't much room, but he was making use of what little there was. King Mickey and Aerith were at the controls, steering the ship through a large, empty portion of space.

Cloud's dreams had stopped entirely as soon as they left Disney Courtyard. He slept for the first time in weeks without so much as a stir – Mickey had stayed up the whole night to monitor him.

"You okay up here by yourself, for a while?" Aerith asked King Mickey.

"You bet," he said, encouraging her with a nod to leave the bridge and find Cloud.

"Cloud?" inquired Aerith, as she entered the cargo hold. Cloud just stopped, turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Uh…I just want to make sure you're fine…" she said, avoiding his steely gaze.

"Well, now you're sure," Cloud said, returning to his slow but steady pacing.

"You know, you don't always have to be so distant…" she said, walking into the already cramped bay. He had barely enough room to take two steps forward and back before she entered – now, they had to stand facing each other amidst the boxes of spare parts.

"It's for your own good," he said, turning his back to stare at the doorway. Aerith put her hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I know Sephiroth is a part of you…" she said softly. "But that doesn't mean he has to control how you live your life."

"Don't lecture me."

"I'm not, Cloud…c'mon, don't be like this."

"I won't be like this once I find him and kill him. He's done nothing but evil deeds, you know that…"

"I know."

King Mickey's voice rang out over the ship's intercom. "Guys, you should come and take a look at this…"

Cloud walked straight for the bridge, Aerith's hand falling limply to her side as he pulled away from her. She hesitated for a moment, then followed him.

Through the view screen of the Fenretto, they saw nothing but the stars in the sky.

"What are we looking at?" Cloud said bluntly.

"Look closer…" Mickey said, not taking his eyes off of the small patch of sky he was looking at – very faintly, they began to see it.

A giant, black sphere hovering in space, covered in tiny white dots. It became more apparent the more they looked at it – the 'stars' on the world's surface didn't shimmer like those in the night sky. They shimmered mechanically, as if on a timer. The sphere was as large as any world they'd ever seen – though it didn't seem to have any buildings or structures on its surface.

"We should check it out…" Cloud said after staring at the world for a few moments.

"Looks like someone went through a lot of trouble to hide that place…" Aerith asked, not sure it was a good idea. As Mickey piloted the ship down towards the surface, they got a better look. The ground was shiny – like glass – and it stretched all across the surface of the world, making it look like a giant, star-specked marble. There was nothing as far as the eye could see in all directions. Mickey skirted the top of the world's surface, looking for any reason at all to honor Cloud's wishes. After traveling a few miles across the terrain of the world, he turned and looked at Cloud.

"Cloud, I dunno…this place doesn't look-"

"There," Cloud said, matter-of-factly. He pointed a small section of the black ground that didn't shimmer with the same gleam that the rest of the planet had. As they got out of the Fenretto, Cloud eagerly took the lead with Mickey and Aerith close behind. The effect was dizzying – when they looked ahead, it seemed as if there was nothing around them in all directions. When the ground caught a speck of light and shined, it was reassuring to the three of them – there was indeed still solid ground underfoot.

The small square Cloud had pointed at truly was different than the rest of the material – it was wooden, like a door.

"Only you, Cloud…only you could see something like this from space," Aerith mused, smirking behind Cloud.

"Your eyes just need training, that's all…" he said playfully.

On the right side of the door, there was a simple, black doorknob that anyone could have mistaken for a rock. Anyone that was crazy enough to land on this world, anyway. Underneath it was a nearly invisible black keyhole. Cloud grabbed the knob and pulled – locked.

"Of course…" he said, backing up from the door on the ground, pulling out his weapon.

"Ah, maybe we don't need force just yet…" Mickey said, summoning his Kingdom Key. As he pointed it at the lock, the door made a familiar clicking sound as it raised ever so slightly from the ground – indicating that it was now unlocked.

As they stealthily crawled down the dark, spiraling staircase beneath the door, Aerith began to wish she hadn't worn pink. Mickey and Cloud each had darker colors on, and if she was the one who got them caught…

…But what was she afraid of being caught by? She calmly reminded herself that she had no reason to believe that this world had enemies on it…but then again, who else would outfit an entire world to be barely visible from space?

Contrary to most staircases that descended into the center of a world, the light grew and grew as they went lower and lower. Eventually, they were led to a long, bright street that ran into the center of a shining, beaming metropolis. Fantastic neon signs that read 'tournament combatants – come here first!' flashed on and off in purple and orange overhead a large, golden dome. A massive hotel stood at the end of the block, surrounded by food shops and tourist attractions.

Aerith looked up at the flashing sign and asked Cloud, "do you think we can get some answers in there?"

"I'd say that's a pretty safe bet," he said, sliding through the revolving door moments after.


	63. Chapter LXIII: Starsweep Underground

CHAPTER LXIII

STARSWEEP UNDERGROUND

Walking through the large dome proved to be more difficult than they had thought – though the streets of the city were relatively quiet, it had to be due to the fact that everyone in town was crowded into this one building.

Grabbing the first human-looking person he could find, Cloud turned him around by his shoulder ruggedly. "What's this place called?" he asked the smaller person.

"Starsweep Uh…Underground…" he said, cautiously peeling Cloud's fingers off of his shoulder. "This is the Setzer Dome…can I go now?" he said, not waiting for an answer as he ran off.

Aerith grabbed Mickey and Cloud's attention when she stopped dead in her tracks, looking up at the top of the dome - hanging from a sturdy looking hook sat a massive, glass case, encrusted with jewels and other shiny materials. The frame was seemingly solid gold, but the contents were the most interesting – a bronze bear, reared up on its hind legs. It was far away, but they could see that a massive brown boulder was etched into its stomach.

"The Boulder Bear!" she said loudly, causing a tall, tan man in front of her to turn around and laugh. He had shoulders twice as wide as his body, with strong looking arms poking out from a tight, red muscle shirt. His black hair made his head look like a block of concrete on his shoulders.

"Of course it's the Boulder Bear! It's like, the reason we're all here…that thing's supposed to be worth a bunch of munny, y'know?"

Next to him, a silver-haired woman turned around, She wore a blue and purple vest with darker pants. Her short hair was cut so that it obscured her pale face – her left eye was covered with a black eye patch.  
"Priceless," she said, turning her back on Cloud, Mickey and Aerith.

"My names Rai, and this is Fuu. Hope you're not enterin' the tourney…we'll have to crush ya into dust, y'know?" he said, turning back around to stand with Fuu in what emerged as a slowly moving line. Cloud, Aerith and Mickey stood there, hoping to get a better glimpse at the Boulder Bear. Mickey looked around in the crowd for any familiar faces…but he saw none.

"Next…next! NEXT!" an annoyed girl's voice shot at Mickey, standing at least two feet away from a small table which sat two young girls. Rai and Fuu were gone, and so was the rest of the line that was ahead of them. The two young girls looked similar - one had her hair in a cute little bob, showing off her green eyes and the other wore hers in pigtails – it became obvious why, when she pulled at them stressfully when Mickey held up the line. Quickly, he ran up to the table with Cloud and Aerith behind him.

"Excuse me…" he started to say, but she rudely cut him off by tossing a clipboard onto the table in front of him. Holding out a pen like she wished she could snap it in half, she said "sign."

"Wait…" Mickey said as the pen was forced into his hands.

"No – sign or get out. Don't hold up the line," the girl with the shorter hair said.

"But I…" Mickey started to protest – but when a large, frowning man with four arms stepped behind the girls, cracking his knuckles, he decided to sign and step to the side. Cloud and Aerith followed his lead, going down the small path that was cordoned off with ropes. It emptied them out into the rear of the dome – there were tables of food and drinks presented lavishly along all sides of the area, with plush looking couches in the center.

Mickey grabbed a piece of fruit as Cloud bit into a nice, thick sandwich. "Well, whatever we signed up for, at least they're feeding us…"

The dome's intercom crackled as a peppy, announcer-like voice came through.

"Attention all visitors to the Setzer Dome – registration for the Starsweep Grand Showdown will close in twenty minutes. Please make your way to the registration tables and have a lucky day!" The line cut off immediately after he finished speaking.

A small rush of late-comers clumped together at the registration tables, but when the bell indicating the end of twenty minutes sounded, only two people were turned away. They cursed loudly and left the Setzer Dome with the assistance of the large four-armed fellow.

"The registration has ended. If you are not registered, please exit the Dome – the preliminaries will begin tomorrow at 2 p.m. – we hope to see you there!" said the cheesy announcer's voice, cutting off once again. As they looked around, Mickey and Cloud could see a wide array of people – it didn't seem like the typical crowd for any event they'd ever seen. Suddenly, the partitions were retracted into the ground, giving the participants a little more room to spread out. A small, circular doorway opened up from the floor as the registration table was cleared away from above it. A tall, decorated man rose up on platform elevator, making an entrance so grand that most of the people in the crowd felt compelled to clap.

The long, light purple haired man stepped out into the center of the dome, staring up at the Boulder Bear. His hair was spiky, reaching a bit past his shoulders. It rested against his beautiful purple cape, a piece that didn't seem to go with his white and gold tuxedo. His perfectly manicured eyebrows raised over blue pupils as his tiny, pressed mouth began to speak.

"The Boulder Bear, ladies and gentlemen. A prize worthy only to the best of the best. You are the best this universe has to offer – as evidenced by the sheer fact that you were able to make your way to Starsweep Underground in the first place. My name is Setzer Gabbiani – I will be your host, your master of ceremonies, and most of all – your banker." He laughed at his joke as the audience cautiously feigned a chuckle.

"The cost of entry is 500 munny, as I'm sure Rose, Lily and Thorn informed you at the registration table…"

"They never said that! That's outrageous!" Aerith muttered, clenching a fist.

"Don't worry…I've got 1,900 munny…we've all got plenty," Mickey assured her.

"The game, dear friends, is Showdown," he said, spinning in place to get a good look at all of his combatants. "Is anyone unfamiliar with the rules of the game?"

Aerith and about ten others across the group raised their hands. Against the hundreds of others in the room, their numbers looked especially small.

"Very well then, the game is played as such -" he said, as the platform raised even higher so that he was staring down at everyone in the room.

"The combatants are paired off – if you cannot choose a partner, Rose, Lily and Thorn will pair you off manually. In the case of an odd number of combatants, the odd man out will be disqualified," he said, scanning the room for any singletons.

"What happens then is simple – four pairs are pitted against each other at a time, only one pair moving on from each group. If you or your partner faints, you forfeit – both must be conscious at the end of the battle."

Cloud continued to scan the crowd, only half listening to the rules of the tournament. He could have sworn he saw a black mask with fangs out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to get a better look, it was gone.

"Each round will consist of four teams, until there are only four teams left – at that point, the matches become two on two. Environmental hazards will occur randomly, triggered by our computer throughout the matches. It's up to you to react and use these to your advantage," Setzer continued, smirking. "For every individual your team defeats, one-hundred munny are credited to your account – the munny is only received when you rise to the top of the ladder and claim the title of Underground Grand Showdown Champion. You win nothing by coming in second. First place is the only place in the Showdown – remember that."

Everyone hushed in the crowd – the potential prize was staggering…the hundreds of combatants, at one-hundred munny apiece…the 500 munny entry fee suddenly seemed like chump change.

"That's it – the pairing will begin at 11 a.m. in the hotel lobby, and it will end promptly at 1 p.m. At 2, the preliminaries begin – good luck, combatants! See you tomorrow!"


	64. Chapter LXIV: The Odd Couples

CHAPTER LXIV

THE ODD COUPLES

Mickey sat on the cot in their small hotel room, talking to Sora on the micro-com. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Sora…besides, we got our sights set on the Boulder Bear, and that'll make up for the Frozen Eel…for now, anyway…"

Aerith burst through the door, completely red in the face. "Ya know, it's bad enough that we gotta spend the 500 munny to compete, but this hotel isn't cheap, either! It was one-hundred and fifty munny for the night!" she said, tossing a considerably lighter munny pouch to Mickey. He stuffed it away as Sora said, "okay, King Mickey – good luck tomorrow!" right before the micro-com shut off.

"This place is such a scam…" Aerith said to herself as the three of them went to sleep.

Mickey stretched out as he woke up the next morning, checking the clock – when he saw that they only had twenty minutes until 1, he shook Cloud and Aerith awake.

"C'mon – we gotta go pair up!"

When they got downstairs, very few people were still milling about in the lobby – most of them had already paired and gone out for a bite to eat before the preliminaries. Rose, Lily and Thorn, the two cute girls with their four-armed bodyguard, sat at a table in the center of the lobby. The three of them ran up and were relieved to see that they were still accepting the pair assignments.

"Okay…who's with who?" Rose said, her hair bouncing up and down as she pointed a pencil between the three of them.

"I…we never decided that…" Aerith said, looking at Cloud. Mickey looked up at the two of them.

"You two go ahead – I'll find a partner…"

"You sure, King Mickey?" Cloud said, ready to write down his name next to Aerith's. When Mickey nodded, he finished signing up and stepped to the side.

"Go find a partner and meet us at the Setzer Dome," Aerith encouraged him. "And try not to get stuck with a loser – the more chances we have to win this thing, the better!"

After ten minutes of walking around the sparsely populated lobby, Mickey resigned himself to a bench in the corner of the room. A bell rang, as Rose and Lily stood up.

"All singles, please assemble in the center of the lobby for manual pairings!" they shouted in unison. Thorn picked up a single sheet of paper and began to read names off of it indiscriminately.

"Barlog with Phineaus," he said, as a small twiggy looking man walked forward, followed by a fat, round muscle head, "Arch and Kale," he said, as two normal looking men walked up and shook hands, "Fran and Johnny Go-Go," Thorn called, sending the last two people, a sleek looking woman and a powerhouse of a man wearing a shirt with a 'JG' on it, to the table.

Mickey stood there, dumbfounded, realizing he was the only one left. To his surprise, however, Thorn didn't stop talking. "Mickey and Pete," he barked, looking around for Mickey's partner. From the opposite side of a tall couch, Mickey saw a fat, dog-like creature stand up, heading for the table. He wore a Legion Knight's uniform, decked out with minimal markings. The stomach bulged out, like it always did…

"You've gotta be kiddin' me…" Mickey and Pete said, staring at each other as Thorn put down the list.

"Well, whaddya know – an even number! That's perfect!" Lily said, smoothing out one of her pigtails.

"Yeah…perfect…" Mickey muttered.

The combatants cleared out of the lobby, as did Thorn, Rose and Lily. Pete and Mickey stood there for a few minutes, staring each other down.

"How did I get stuck with such a rotten little pipsqueak!" Pete demanded, cracking his knuckles furiously.

"Like I'm exactly ecstatic?" Mickey shot back, crossing his arms.

"Well, dere's no way I'm competin' with the likes of you on my side!"

Mickey thought for a minute and sighed.

"We've already entered – it'd be a waste of our munny," he said, appealing to Pete's greed.

"Well…dat's true…" he said, rubbing his chin.

"And we're obviously both after the same thing…" Mickey prodded.

"Yeah…but if we win, I'm takin' it!" Pete said, holding a finger in Mickey's face. Mickey calmly pushed it away as he continued speaking.

"Okay – it's a deal. If we win it all, you get to take it back to the Legion. I'd rather at least know where it is than have to go searching for it all over again…" Mickey said, judging Pete's reactions from the corner of his eye. Pete couldn't get any thicker – not taking any note of Mickey's ruse, he smiled widely, patting Mickey on the back. "Well, glad ya see it my way! See ya in da first match, runt…" he said, walking out of the hotel, a stupid grin beaming on his face. Mickey followed, heading straight for the Setzer Dome…it was getting late, now.

"You got paired with who!" Aerith said, knowing the answer as she asked Mickey the third time. "Of all the rotten luck…"

"Attention all Showdown Partners – the preliminaries will begin in five minutes – can the following pairs please meet in the center of the Dome: Johnny Go-Go and Fran; Arch and Kale; Zell and Rekka; Mickey and Pete," the cheesy voice boomed throughout the Setzer Dome. The room had been cleared – the table in the center had been removed to make way for a large, chain-link dome. The Boulder Bear still hung overhead, a constant reminder to stay vigilant. As Mickey got closer to the dome, he could see that it was covered in sharp barbs in certain sections – other sections looked perfectly safe. The gaps were large enough to fit a hand through, and that was about it. Thorn had opened a gate in the side of the dome to let the contestants in.

Arch and Kale, the two normal looking men, entered first.

"Weapons?" Thorn asked. Kale, the taller, red-headed one, pulled out a metal bow and arrow. He plucked the string with his nimble fingers, causing it to twang melodiously. Arch pulled out two black whips – each of them tipped with heavy stone bulbs. They cracked against the floor loudly when he demonstrated them.

"Weapons?" Thorn said to the next two people to step up – Johnny Go-Go and Fran were right behind Arch and Kale as they entered. Johnny Go-Go raised his arms, each now outfitted in expensive looking gauntlets. Thorn grabbed one of his arms, flipping it so he could see the underside – when he pressed a relatively hidden button, two sharp daggers shot out of it, connected to a cord that delivered an electric shock. As they dug into the ground, Thorn stripped them from Go-Go.

"Not permitted," he said, tossing them into a box.

"Aw! C'mon!" Go-Go protested, entering the ring weaponless. Fran pulled out a small, gray stick – as she flicked her wrist, it spread out into an impressive looking fan with a dragon etched into it. Thorn allowed her to pass.

"Weapons?" Thorn asked Mickey as he walked up. Trying not to make a spectacle of summoning, he showed his keyblade off as Thorn chuckled, allowing him to pass. Pete entered behind him, having nothing to show Thorn.

The last pair was odd – the young man, Zell, had military blonde hair, a strange black tattoo on the left side of his face that looked like looping, jagged lines. His partner, a massive bird-like creature, stood nearly twice his height – a large, blunt beak and sharp talons certainly made it look formidable. Ruffling its brown and yellow feathers as it entered the arena, the chocobo stepped gracefully through the gate. Zell showed Thorn that he had no weapons aside from his gloves, finally entering the dome.

Thorn slammed the gate shut, stepped back and raised a thumbs-up sign high in the air. A warning bell sounded as the pairs separated, drawing their weapons – ready to begin the Showdown.


	65. Chapter LXV: Showdown, Round One

CHAPTER LXV

SHOWDOWN, ROUND ONE

As the warning bell chimed, the ground around the dome started to rise in large, rectangular blocks, surprising almost all of the onlookers. As it stopped rising in levels, it created a large set of bleachers. The audience was mostly full of the other combatants who were eager to get a look at the competition; but there were plenty of other assorted gamblers and card sharks watching as well. There was a good chance that there were bets being taken on the Showdown – though, first round bets were always a gamble.

On each of the four sides of the dome, there hung two identical bandanas each – a set of red, blue, green and yellow. Mickey tied the yellow one around his neck as Pete wrapped his around his arm. Zell and Rekka wore blue, Go-Go and Fran had gotten red and that left Arch and Kale with green. It was much easier for the audience to tell who was on what team this way. The announcer's voice came over the intercom once again.

"The match will last 20 minutes. Killing is not an option in the Showdown – the stakes are high, but it's still just a game, after all. If at any point you can't continue, remove your bandana and drop it – this will signal a forfeit. And don't forget to be on your toes – surprises can happen at any moment!" His voice was followed by a loud, shrill buzzing noise which indicated the beginning of the match.

Arch was the first to move – he lashed his whips upward, grabbing the dome. As he swung around the arena, trying to get a good vantage point, Kale carefully aimed a shot at Rekka, the large chocobo across the field.

Zell was quick on his feet – waiting for the perfect timing, he slashed at the arrow with his hand, splintering it in half mere feet in front of Rekka. As a sign of appreciation, Rekka lowered her head and charged head on at Kale, head butting him in the stomach.

"Go get 'em, small fry!" Pete said, lifting Mickey up by the scruff of his shirt – he spun around once and hurled Mickey like a javelin across the field toward Go-Go. When Mickey connected with Go-Go, it sent him flying backwards into the barbed wire portion of the dome. The purple haired Fran went into a flurry of attacks – whipping her fan around her faster than Mickey could ever hope to block. Taking the brunt of the attack, he saw Pete charging out of the corner of his eye.

Grappling with the wounded Johnny Go-Go was a challenge for Pete – the two weaponless muscle-heads were matched, pound for pound. Zell was caught off guard by the swinging Arch – with one Tarzan like movement, Arch had placed his feet squarely behind Zell's head, knocking him into the fence.

Seemingly from nowhere, two large boxes appeared and hovered over the center of the arena – each rapidly blinked colors, slowing only incrementally as time went on. Acting on a hunch, Kale shot a wooden arrow at one of the boxes – as it struck, the box immediately stopped alternating colors - sticking on red. Johnny Go-Go fell backwards as Pete suddenly felt no resistance from him…Fran had slowed down to a pace that Mickey could handle, as he swung his keyblade, knocking the fan out of her hand and clear out of the ring.

Some of the spectators booed and hissed as the announcer's voice rang out again. "Oh, and Kale activates one of our many traps – a slo-mo box, now tied to Go-Go and Fran! Will they be able to come back from the devastating disadvantage?"

Pete turned his back on Go-Go, who slowly pushed himself up off of the ground. Catching him off guard, Zell drove his foot into Pete's massive stomach, causing him to keel over in pain, nearly falling on Go-Go.

Like a bullet train, Rekka the chocobo continued to drive around the dome, searching for a target that would hold still long enough for her to smash it. Though he was unleashing a flurry or metal tipped arrows at Mickey, Kale never saw the bird coming – it smashed into his side, flinging him into the solid red block. It began to rotate again as Kale's limp body fell to the ground.

"And our first team is eliminated! Kale and Arch – show's over!" The two of them flashed in a green blur, appearing outside of the dome. Arch cursed under his breath, as Kale laid out on the floor, gasping for air as he awakened. Arch rolled his whips up and silently left him behind – there was clearly no love lost between the two strangers.

Back in the ring, Go-Go and Fran had backed away from Mickey and Pete. Now that the boxes no longer blinked green, the pace had quickened. Trying his best not to land on yellow, Mickey fired a bolt of lightening down on the second block, stopping it on blue.

Immediately, Zell and Rekka flew across the dome, crashing awkwardly into each other as they crumpled into a pile. As he tried to get up, Zell couldn't move more than a foot or two from Rekka, who had been encountering the same problem. Zell's bandana found Rekka's, tied around her long neck, and stuck to it – Zell flailing as he was dragged around the dome by the frightened and confused beast.

"The magnet box…ooh, that's a good one!" the announcer bellowed.

Go-Go reached his hands up into the sky, clenching his fingers together – as he smashed them downwards, pulverizing the ground, a shockwave of blue light emanated from the ground, knocking Rekka, Pete and Fran off of their feet – Mickey was quick enough to jump over the blast, using the opportunity to begin a combo on Go-Go.

Rekka skidded to a stop as she dragged Zell's motionless body underneath her – the trip had flipped them, causing the heavy bird to land awkwardly on her partner. Unfortunately, the impact knocked Zell out cold, removing the second team from the Showdown.

"Zell and Rekka – show's over!" the announcer cheerfully teased. Four members of the audience all stood up, each of them wearing a shirt that bore a different letter of the word 'Zell'. As he slid off of Rekka's back, Zell awoke to the familiar smell of hot dogs, as his supporters embarrassingly pummeled him with the food.

"Just you an' me, pumpkin…" Pete said, encroaching on Fran's space. Now the blocks overhead were blinking so fast they could hardly be seen – from yellow to red and back again, over and over. "I think you and your buddy need some time to bond…" Pete said, jumping at the magnet box, punching it with his clenched fist.

Much to his dismay, instead of stopping on a color, the box promptly blew up in his face – a feeling Pete knew all too well. It sent him rocketing skywards, slamming him into the very top of the dome.

Go-Go was simply no match for Mickey – he tried grabbing the keyblade from him, as well as dodging his attacks…but every move he made, Mickey was a step ahead. From the corner of his eye, Mickey saw Pete falling fast toward the ground…if he hit, he'd definitely be knocked out cold…

Not wasting another second, Mickey jumped on Go-Go's head, vaulting over his broad shoulders and into the dome behind him. Pushing as hard as his little legs could, he shot off of the wall into Go-Go's back. The resulting force shoved Go-Go right where Mickey wanted him – underneath the massive, falling girth of Pete.

"Oooh!" cried the announcer and most of the audience – Pete fell with such force that he actually cracked the polished floor of the Setzer Dome beneath Go-Go's now limp body. The red team was warped out of the dome, leaving only a stunned Pete and Mickey, standing alone in the center.

"Good save, twerp…" Pete mumbled, rubbing his stomach where Zell had kicked him.

"The winners, ladies and gentlemen, of round one – Mickey and Pete!" called the announcer. After they were beamed out of the dome, they handed over their bandanas to Thorn and headed separately toward the bleachers, content with the fact that they had won – no matter how lucky they had been.


	66. Chapter LXVI: The Showdown Continues

CHAPTER LXVI

THE SHOWDOWN CONTINUES

Mickey, Cloud and Aerith only watched a few of the next five preliminary matches in the Showdown – eight battles were scheduled; the one that Mickey and Pete had won was only the first. One by one, teams were eliminated until five pairs earned a spot in the quarterfinals with Mickey and Pete.

The second to last preliminary match was scheduled for later that day, but Cloud and Aerith knew that they were in the last match that evening. Besides Mickey and Pete, they knew that the thin little man Barlog and his fat partner Phineaus had made it through by the skin of their teeth. They also knew that Rai and Fuu made it through, but not because they had seen the match; Rai paraded up and down the corridors of the hotel that night, announcing it to anyone and everyone that would listen. The only other team they had heard about was made up of a tall, agile man called Tycho and his compact, powerful partner Gabe.

"We should really be studying the other teams…" Aerith urged Cloud as they sat on a bench outside a small café in town. Cloud nursed a large mug of tea as Mickey silently agreed with Aerith. "We only watched Barlog and Phineaus, and they seemed like a joke…"

"That's exactly why we're not watching. It'll make you soft. You'll become comfortable and you won't give it your all," Cloud said, swigging his tea.

"No, it wouldn't! It's called 'being informed'!" she shouted, causing a few nearby tables to look in their direction. Mickey serenely smiled at the onlookers, diverting their attention from the red-faced Aerith.

"I'd rather be surprised," Cloud smirked, kicking back in his chair. Aerith positively exploded when he said this, standing straight up as her chair slammed backwards into the ground.

"Fine! You can be surprised and get yourself disqualified, but I'm going to be informed!" She stormed off toward the Setzer Dome, fuming like a candle.

Less than ten minutes later, Mickey had dragged Cloud to the dome to catch up with Aerith; secretly, Mickey had hoped to catch the end of the fight. As they were greeted with an outpour of contestants and audience members from the entrance, Mickey knew that the match was over. Aerith stood, arms crossed, against the ticket counter off to the side.

"Well? Who won?" Cloud asked.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise…" Aerith said coldly, averting her gaze from Cloud's youthful face. Something deep inside Mickey told him that she wasn't mad about Cloud's arrogance…she seemed more angry that she had missed another opportunity to spend time with him.

"Attention, Starsweep Underground!" the intercom boomed, reaching into the streets surrounding the Setzer Dome. "The final preliminary match will begin in twenty minutes – Trolo and Roy; Tidus and Selphie; Cloud and Aerith; Hayner and Seifer!"

"Let's go," Cloud said, walking straight to the dome.

"Good luck!" Mickey said, though Cloud made no indication that he heard him.

"Weapons?" Thorn asked Cloud as he came to the gate. Cloud rolled his eyes and turned half-way, showing the Buster Sword strapped to his back. "Remove it so I can see."

Further aggravated by the request, Cloud drew his blade so that it was only inches from Thorn's torso.

"Cool it, or you'll be disqualified." Thorn went to take the sword to examine it, as Cloud slammed it into the ground so that it stuck upright in front of the four-armed nuisance. He shot his hand out, holding Thorn back from touching the Buster.

"Nobody touches it but me. Call it a superstition," he said, trying not to get too aggressive. Thorn raised an eyebrow, but apparently sympathized with Cloud's plea – he motioned for him to go on. Aerith's encounter was much shorter – the bodyguard examined her short staff for a moment and handed it back to her almost immediately thereafter.

Cloud quickly tied the red bandana around his wrist as Aerith made hers into a cute headband – they had plenty of time to waste, as most of the combatants didn't show up until five minutes before the fight.

Trolo, a stiff, tall man walked up to Thorn.

"Weapons?" he said, growing weary of the drill.

Trolo rolled up the sleeves on his red and white jacket – his arms were entirely mechanical. Though they weren't nearly as impressive as John Silver's, they were formidable – he demonstrated by clenching shut a portion of the metal cage with two of his fingers. His face showed no visible emotion – even when he spoke, the mouth moved up and down in predictable, constant patterns.

His partner Roy was slightly less impressive – nearly half Trolo's height, he seemed downright dwarfish compared to his partner. He didn't resemble a robot at all – his bulging forearms were intimidating, to say the least. His green and black robe swayed around him, dragging along the ground and creating the illusion that he was floating above it. Having no weapon, he entered directly behind Trolo, tying a yellow bandana around his forearm as soon as they had settled.

A tall, handsome boy was next in line. He impatiently tapped his foot on the floor, his army pattern pants setting off his blonde hair. Next to him was a boy only a few inches taller than him – he wore an undersized purple beanie cap over his slicked back platinum hair. His purple vest was opened to reveal a pressed, white shirt beneath it.

"I'm beginning to think Setzer lied to us…" Hayner said, catching a glimpse of Trolo and Roy. As his gaze shifted to Cloud and his Buster Sword, he began to sweat, wiping his palms on his army pants. "He…he did say we were the best Strugglers he had ever seen, right?"

The boy with the cap laughed. "He said that to me, chicken wuss. You only came along because he said I needed a partner – I would have taken Rai or Fuu, but they came on their own…" Seifer said, cracking his knuckles.

"Shut up, dumbass…that was two years ago, anyway. Think of how much better we've gotten?" Hayner said, staring at the barbed portions of the dome. "On second thought…I think he might have just wanted to take our munny…"

"Well, at 500 apiece, you'll be puttin' up a lot more posters if we don't win," Seifer said, trying to keep his calm as Thorn extended his arms, reaching for his weapon.

Hayner showed off a brand new bronze-colored kitana. Seifer handed over a long, silver sword that looked strangely like Leon's gunblade – the major difference was the shape of the blade and the barrel – it was sleeker, slimmer, and overall more intimidating. After they entered, Seifer chose the blue bandana.

"Aw, man! I said 'green' how many times! Jeez, I think you do this stuff just to piss me off…" he said, tying a blue bandana around his belt loop.

"No…not me," Seifer said, feigning innocence.

The second to last combatant was Selphie – a spry looking girl with brown, bouncy hair. It curled up in two wings over her shoulders, which were clad in a white blouse. Her blue tie and skirt were just like Kairi's – in fact, they went to school together – though Cloud and Aerith had no idea. She smiled and flashed a peace sign as Thorn examined her long, orange nunchaku, allowing her to pass. Her partner Tidus was a little tanner than her, his dirty blonde hair adding to the effect. His glassy looking blue sword was serrated at one end, and Thorn almost didn't let it pass – but remembering Cloud's sword, he decided it was no more dangerous. Selphie had her green bandana on before Tidus even made it through the gate; now being slammed shut by Thorn.

The announcer's voice startled the Setzer Dome's patrons as it came out of nowhere. "Strap yourselves in, folks – the final match of the preliminaries is about to begin, and it looks like it'll be a doozy!"


	67. Chapter LXVII: Big Surprise

CHAPTER LXVII

BIG SURPRISE

Cloud serenely waited for the buzzer to sound – as soon as it did, he dove at the closest target.

"Stay back!" he yelled at Aerith, clashing his sword against Trolo's heavy, metallic arm. The robot was faster than Cloud had anticipated, throwing punches every second with his free arm. Cloud absorbed three punches into his chest before he realized the pain they were causing – he hopped backwards from Trolo, trying to rethink his current approach.

Selphie and Tidus had opted to target Aerith together – Selphie's nunchaku buzzed like a set of dainty wings around her head as she approached the lady in pink. Aerith raised her staff, shouting 'stopra!'; all it did was cause Selphie to flinch and lose a bit of momentum. Tidus used Aerith's attack as an opportunity to bat her backwards with his massive sword. As she crashed into the barbed fence behind her, Tidus was taken to his knees by a small, brown blur…

Roy had vaulted himself towards Selphie, grabbing onto her whirling nunchaku…spinning them rapidly to try and rid herself of the unwelcome guest, Selphie put Roy in just the position he had wanted – at the precise moment of his arc, Roy let go, flying into Tidus' backside, catching him completely unaware. He painfully slid across the dirty ground on his face, the small, sturdy man riding on his back.

"Quit being such a baby!" Seifer snarled at Hayner as he tried to back up through the metal grates in the fence. "We didn't just throw away 1,000 munny, did we!"

"M…maybe if we let 'em tire themselves out…" Hayner pleaded, trying not to lose face in front of his rival.

"I can't BELIEVE you'd wuss out when it finally mattered! For a guy who talks so much trash, you got nothin' to back it up…" Seifer said, drawing his gunblade and scanning the arena for anyone who decided to come their way.

Hayner turned his back to Seifer and stared out of a hole in the dome. As he tried to reach his fingers through, they knocked into something solid…but there was nothing there. He examined several other holes in the wall, tapping them lightly – a small fleck of light appeared briefly as he tapped, and at once he knew some kind of force field was in place. That fact became abundantly clear as water began to rise from the bottom of the dome, quickly filling what would soon become a fishbowl…

"Uh oh! The water level's rising, and you can't do anything about it! Hope you've got gills, contestants!" the announcer's voice taunted. The audience went into an uproar – people were calling foul play left and right, though the viewers that had nothing at stake couldn't help but enjoy the spectacle…

Cloud felt the water around his ankles – he smirked as he jumped straight over the head of Trolo, swinging underneath his body. As he connected with the back of Trolo's head, the robot fell face first into the water, Cloud triumphantly landing on his back. Now all he had to do was wait for the robot to short circuit…

Selphie cracked Aerith across the jaw with her weapons, causing her to yelp in pain. Cloud looked on, not wanting to free Trolo until he was definitely short circuited.

"Aerith! I said stay back! Come over here so I can protect you!" he bellowed, his voice resounding more like an order than a plea.

"Not exactly…" she gasped, trying her hardest to block Selphie's masterful nunchaku swings, "an option…right now…besides," she screamed with gaining intensity. With an increasing fervor, she drew her staff back and called 'blizzaga!' swinging it like a baseball bat into Selphie's stomach. Selphie, knocked upward and backward by the force of the spell and the swing, smashed into the top of the dome – falling limply to the wet floor, completely knocked out.

"I can take care of myself," Aerith said proudly, flashing a cheesy grin at Cloud from across the dome.

"Tidus and Selphie, show's over…" the announcer said miserably. They couldn't be sure, but some of the audience members could swear they saw a man that looked just like the announcer standing in the betting lines earlier that evening…

The water began to flow more quickly – within a minute's time, Cloud was up to his neck in water, and everyone else was floating around, trying to find a way to drain the dome. Roy punched the wall with his beefy arms, but it was no use – floating in water and standing on land were two entirely different things when it came to brute force.

As the water level rose, it caused a very odd situation – the four foot circle at the top of the dome soon became the only viable source of air. Roy, Cloud, Aerith, Hayner and Seifer's heads all poked out of the water, trying to make use of what little air there was left while begrudgingly allowing the others to stay alive. The water level slowly began to creep upwards, moistening their chins…

"Well, this is it…looks like we're gonna die…we're gonna die because of 1,000 stupid munny!" Hayner said, slapping Seifer in the face.

"Did…did you just slap me! You're gonna pay for that, chicken-wuss…" he said, suckerpunching Hayner in the gut underwater.

"They can't make an obstacle that would kill us…could they?" Aerith asked, her chin bobbing up and down in the cool, blue pool.

"I don't wanna find out…" Cloud said, as he gulped a large breath of air and dove down below.

Much to his pleasure, he found what he sought – Trolo's arm had proven capable of bending the steel, and he hoped to disrupt the force field with it. But much to his chagrin, the arm was flying towards him in a powerful punch - which knocked what little breath he had out of his lungs. Kicking his legs toward the surface, he heard Trolo's mechanical voice for the first time, muffled by the water.

"Waterproof," he said, grabbing Cloud's ankle with his shining arm. Cloud managed to gasp a lungful of air right before the robot dragged him back down below, slamming him effortlessly into the ground. Water didn't seem to slow him down, like it did most people – Cloud spied that his body had sprouted holes and flaps, making him far more hydrodynamic than the average human. Taking shot after shot at Cloud's torso with his rapidly moving legs, the robot seemed indestructible…

Summing up all of his energy, Cloud closed his eyes and glowed a faint, muted blue…he floated effortlessly, his flowing cloak looking more like a demonic pair of wings, completely unaffected by the water's pressure…using the short time he had, Cloud swung his Buster Sword thrice – once, tearing off the robot's legs in midkick; the second time, digging straight through its torso; and the final time, lopping off its right arm and head. The robot crumbled to the ground in pieces, as Cloud grabbed the arm, manipulated some wires and clenched closed a section of the metal dome.

Immediately, the force field was disrupted – in a flash, Trolo and Roy were teleported out of the dome. Draining much faster than it filled, Cloud and Aerith touched the damp ground on one side of the dome, opposite of Hayner and Seifer.

"Trolo and Roy, show's over! I knew a robot would never make the cut…" he said to the side, forgetting to shut his microphone off for a moment. The rude gesture he received from Roy as he picked up his partner's remains reminded the announcer of that tiny fact.

Hayner looked wide-eyed at Cloud, whose black cloak was dripping wet across the dome.

"Dude, we got one more team – don't tell me you're still gonna wuss out!" Seifer prodded Hayner.

"……SHUT THE HELL UP!" Hayner screamed as his rage peaked, leaving Seifer in his dust as he drew his kitana for the first time. Driving straight at Cloud, he noticed an easy opportunity for a strike…just like Struggle, he reminded himself…

But he was flung across the dome and into the fence with one swing from Cloud's sword. In fact, Cloud hadn't even taken a step – he waited patiently until Hayner was in range, and connected. Walking slowly across the dome, Cloud sheathed his Buster Sword on his back. Hayner whimpered on the side of the dome, as Cloud came face to face with Seifer. As defiantly as he could muster, Seifer swung overhead at Cloud – he was stunned to see that Cloud had blocked his powerful attack…merely with a buckle on his black, leather gauntlet.

Cloud smiled coyly at Seifer, who had drawn his gunblade back to his side. His eyes were wider than Hayner's had been – reaching up, he closed his eyes sadly as he removed the blue bandana and dropped it to the ground at Cloud's feet. Immediately, he and Hayner were teleported out of the dome, near the exit.

As Hayner struggled to stand, Seifer silently allowed him to rest some of his weight on his shoulder. Hayner looked up, half-smiling, half-wincing with pain.

"Chicken-wuss," Hayner said, as the two of them walked down the aisle and out of the Setzer Dome.

"The final team to make it through the preliminaries is Cloud and Aerith! Give 'em a big hand, folks!" the announcer bellowed, sending the audience into a frenzy. Aerith smiled, untying Cloud's bandana from his arm - as he silently allowed it.


	68. Chapter LXVIII: Showdown Semifinals

CHAPTER LXVIII

SHOWDOWN SEMIFINALS

Setzer sat in his computer chair, programming innovative and torturous 'surprises' into the Setzer Dome's memory banks. Magnet boxes, slo-mo boxes, speed boxes…the rising water trick, he thought, was particularly impressive…they were all available for the semifinal matches, and then some. A gambler at heart, he had to tell himself not to play with the odds – he promised random, he would deliver random – but not without a little 'insurance', of course. No self-respecting gambler would invest in something this lavish without knowing that he'd rake in a pretty penny.

Behind Setzer's chair, a shadow silently shifted, as a dark, melodious voice drifted through the room. The tall man spoke to Setzer – not as a friend, but as a business partner; nothing more.

"You say that you're certain I'll be able to face him?"

Setzer laughed. "Please – the rest of these clowns are nothing compared to your little friend. He'll win the semis and the final match – and in order to claim his prize, he'll have to do what the rulebook said. 'Rise to the top of the ladder…'" Setzer quoted, reading from a screen.

The shadowed man was silent for a minute, but eventually, he spoke to Setzer. "I don't know why I shouldn't just kill you and everyone else that gets in my way."

Setzer's mouth twitched – he was used to working with ruffians and backstabbers, but this was a new low that even he'd never reached before.

"Because if you do that, my friend…he'll find out and run away…and you'll spend another year searching for him. I'm not exactly 'low-profile'; someone would notice if I was murdered in cold blood. Besides – once you're in the dome, you can kill him in front of thousands of onlookers – and they'll all be cheering your name…" Setzer bargained.

"Pointless. Though, the prospect of having him all to myself in a caged environment is tempting…"

"And isn't that all you want? A chance for an honest to goodness battle to the death? I know killing is against the rules…but I can't help it if one combatant happens to break the rules…now can I?" Setzer said, hoping to appeal to the man's lust for battle. "We both get what we want – you get your man, and I get all that beautiful munny…all without having to pay the winner a dime… You're at the top of the ladder – and since nobody can defeat you, well…it's a no-brainer after that point. Love that fine print, don't you?"

The man in the shadow's grunted his assent, retiring to his chambers, awaiting the unannounced 'super-final' match – wherein he planned to lay waste to his prey, once and for all…

Mickey, Cloud and Aerith were able to sleep the entire next day – the semifinals were two days away, giving them some much needed downtime. As they assembled for the first round of the semi-finals, Mickey and Aerith checked the board to see the list for the two matches. Cloud leaned against the wall, just waiting for his name to be called…

"Me, Pete," Mickey said, rolling his eyes, "You, Cloud, Rai, Fuu, Barlog and Phineaus…" he finished, reading the names off the list to Aerith. "But that's round two – where's round one?" he said, looking around for any sign of who'd be fighting that afternoon.

"Please take your seats – round one of the semifinals is about to begin!" the announcer said calmly over the intercom, urging the stragglers to make their way into the arena.

"Guess we'll find out soon…" Aerith said, as she, Cloud and Mickey went to watch.

The semifinals started much faster than the preliminaries – Thorn already had an account of the weapons, so the contestants were ushered in much more smoothly. Off to one side of the dome stood a lankly, limber man that looked as though he could tie his arms around his own head. Next to him, a squat, mustachioed fellow flexed his muscles. "That must be Gabe and Tycho…" Mickey said to Aerith and Cloud – though Cloud seemed as if he couldn't care less. When the next two stepped in, a flurry of signs around the audience flipped upward to reveal the names "NIDYA AND SLOAN" all over them; the two girls were dressed in skintight outfits, each holding identical staffs with butterfly crests.

Next to enter were two properly built gentlemen, each donning a fancy looking mustache that curled up at either end. They raised their fists in the air, pumping up the crowd as certain sections began to chant, "ED AND RED! ED AND RED!"

The final combatants caught Cloud's eye – a rather pudgy fellow and a sleek, caped young man entered the arena, each wearing identical black suits with tribal markings.

"Ember and Vincent!" Cloud asked, looking at Aerith sternly, as though chastising her for not telling him earlier.

"Surprised?" she said, turning her attention back to the fight.

It was over before a single random trap went off – Ember and Vincent had mopped the floor with their unsuspecting competition. True to form, the suits had gotten much more powerful since Hades' expulsion from the Legion… It was a dangerous concept that with each enemy they defeated, the remaining few grew stronger and stronger…

As some cranky fans ripped their supportive signs, others added lines to their chants. "ED AND RED ARE DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!" was the new chant – the two strong men were the first to be eliminated; they were constantly reminded of that as they weaved their way out of the Setzer Dome. Cloud and Aerith had already taken their places in the dome for the last semifinal match. Mickey was forced to wait outside for Pete, who came bumbling in five minutes before the buzzer sounded. Also in the dome were their opponents – Rai, who twirled a weighted staff around his fingers like a toothpick; and Fuu, who spun a single chakra around her arm, its black metal gleaming in the artificial light of the dome. Barlog and Phineaus stood off to the side, sparring gently with each other before the match. Apparently, the manual matching system wasn't totally flawed…they were a pretty lethal combination.

"Here we are, folks! The last of the semifinals – the winner of this match goes on to face the Unsmiling Man and the Fanged Man in the final match! The tension is killing me! In fact – ah…uh…" he chided, faking his own death over the intercom as the audience roared with laughter and applause. The buzzer sounded, sending the dome into a flurry of movement.

Immediately after they had begun to move, each of the combatants stopped – around their midsections, a long, glowing blue rope seemed to be tied, leading out to the dome's fencing. Each of the eight combatants tried to cut their ropes, but it was no use. They didn't seem to hinder their movement in any way, as Rai found out when he charged at Cloud.

Unfortunately, as Rai's rope got longer, Fuu's shortened, until she was forcibly slammed into the dome - causing Rai to be halted like a junkyard dog on a leash. When Fuu pushed off of the fence, Rai's rope, in turn, grew shorter.

"I don't get it!" Pete said, yanking his rope. Mickey sailed backwards, caught off guard, as a dopey smile spread across Pete's face. "Ohhh…now I get it…"

"Good for you…" Mickey said, brushing himself off. He prepared himself for a tough battle, as he and the other combatants realized that this match had gotten ten times more complicated in the blink of an eye.


	69. Chapter LXIX: The Semifinals Conclude

CHAPTER LXIX

THE SEMIFINALS CONCLUDE

"The ties that bind! This has gotta be my favorite surprise of them all!" the announcer shouted over the intercom.

Setzer smiled smugly in his viewing chamber high above the arena floor.

"Hang onto the wall – I need the rope," Cloud shouted to Aerith, as he jerked her backwards by rushing towards Rai across the dome. Rai followed his lead, brandishing his weighted staff as Fuu awkwardly clung to the dome behind her. The ropes around Aerith and Fuu's midsections were tight, providing constant pressure…

Fully extending the ropes allowed Cloud and Rai to barely come within attack distance of each other. Slashing rapidly, Cloud repeatedly struck Rai's massive staff. It clanged like metal against metal, surprising Cloud; it looked wooden. Using the split-second opportunity, Rai swung sideways and knocked Cloud across the dome – forcing him to drop his Buster Sword from the impact.

Pete and Mickey stood idly by, not entirely sure what course to take.

"Gimme da rope!" Pete said, yanking it so that he had a good amount of slack.

"We've got to share it!" Mickey said, pulling back hard. Suddenly, Mickey saw Cloud swinging his way across the dome, like a strange, human tetherball. Steadying himself as best he could, he softened Cloud's landing as he attempted to catch the man that was three times his size. The two of them crumpled into a heap on the ground, as Phineaus' deep, craggy laugh echoed through their ears.

Aerith tried to hold him off by casting a fire spell, but it didn't seem to affect him. His thick hide was absorbing the spells faster than Aerith could cast them – before too long, he was standing right next to the pretty girl, laughing his undersized head off. As he grabbed her around the torso with one of his huge hands, Mickey quickly realized that his leg had become entangled in Cloud's cloak…

Pulling with all his might, Phineaus tore Aerith away from the wall. The resulting force pulled Cloud back into the wall, quaking the very floor of the Setzer Dome. Mickey, having been caught up in Cloud's cloak, was pulled as well – causing Pete to awkwardly rocket into the wall behind him. Phineaus swung Aerith once and tossed her on top of Cloud's motionless body, effectively damaging four fighters with one move.

"Oooh…that doesn't look pretty…looks like we might have our first contestants eliminated…"

But Cloud stood up, steadying Aerith on his shoulder. The force hadn't knocked them out – it just made them a bit woozy. Out of nowhere, four small, colored buttons rose up from the ground in the center of the arena. They were just out of reach, even if the teams gave up the maximum amount of slack – Cloud immediately snatched Aerith's staff out of her hand as he dove toward the buttons, reaching out and smacking the red one. Instantly, the ropes attached to Aerith and himself were gone – he flung the staff back to his partner and scooped up his Buster Sword, turning to attack Phineaus and Barlog.

As he dashed past the buttons, he was almost slashed by the rebound of Fuu's black chakram. It had slammed into the blue button, freeing her and Rai as well. Aerith cried 'magnega!', dragging Rai and Fuu helplessly into the center of a raging whirlwind. Rai swung his staff, desperate to hit anything he could…

"What's the matter, big boy?" Cloud teased Phineaus by slicing his shirt. "Don't like it so much now that you're still chained and I'm free, do you?" Cloud pummeled Phineaus in the face with a series of rapid punches. In an animalistic rage, Phineaus beat his chest and dove straight at Cloud, pulling the much smaller Barlog into the fence. Repeatedly, Cloud jumped out of Phineaus' grasp, causing him to slam his own partner into the metal grate over and over. Soon, Barlog limply slid to the ground – defeated by his own partner. Instantly, they were teleported out of the dome.

"Barlog and Phineaus, show's over!" the announcer said cheerily.

As the magnet spell wore down, Fuu reclaimed her chakram and used it like a sharp, spiked hula hoop – slashing into Aerith, she tackled her backwards into the fence, holding her against the wall as Rai slammed Cloud unaware from behind.

As he laid out on the ground, Cloud rolled sideways, avoiding a downward thrust of Rai's powerful staff. Slashing his sword, Cloud seemed to miss Rai entirely – but it connected where he had intended it to – the yellow button depressed, and Mickey and Pete were free.

Diving at Rai with lightening speed, Mickey spun his keyblade around him, beginning to look like a tiny, whirling tornado. Rai called out to Fuu for help…but Aerith had smacked her into Pete's line of sight, and the massive Legion Knight pounded her mercilessly with his fists.

Simultaneously, Rai and Fuu collapsed – Mickey and Pete had finished them in no time flat. They teleported out of the dome as the announcer shouted "I don't believe it! The mammoth and the mouse pull it off and pound through the opposition! Rai and Fuu, show's over!"

Mickey looked up at Cloud and smiled, while Pete clasped his hands stupidly over his head, accepting all the praises from the entertained audience.

"Good luck, pal," Mickey said, untying the yellow bandana and dropping it at Cloud's feet.

"What! What'd you do, tiny!" Pete gulped, noticing he and Mickey were now outside of the dome.

"And the little mouse forfeits the match, leaving Cloud and Aerith to move on to the finals! Completely astounding!" the announcer tried to scream, but the booing and hissing of the audience had reached the highest pitch – viewers and gamblers were absolutely furious that Mickey and Pete had thrown the match – but Mickey didn't care; Cloud and Aerith had a far greater chance to win it all than he and Pete did.

"Sorry Pete. Guess we won't be winning after all…thanks for the help, though," Mickey said, smiling as he walked toward the exit.

"B…but…you…you used me! Of all the dirty, rotten, double-crossin'…" Pete mumbled, heading for the bleachers. He would have ended up doing the same thing in the finals against his superiors, Ember and Vincent. He smirked as he sat down, awaiting the final match. "I guess Vincent and Ember are just gonna have to prove their worth, dat's all…"


	70. Chapter LXX: Boulder Bear Brawl

CHAPTER LXX

BOULDER BEAR BRAWL

Cloud and Aerith stood at one end of the dome while Ember and Vincent casually entered to meet them. It was hard for them to look at Vincent – he had seemed to be making progress against the darkness the last time they saw him…but now, he just looked like a mindless drone, following Ember like a lost puppy.

"The rules are just like before, except now it's two on two. First person to faint loses the match and the Showdown for their team…so stay on your toes! Good luck, and as always – keep an eye out for those surprises!" the announcer's voice was starting to grate on Cloud's nerves…

The buzzer sounded and the match began with a flash. Aerith immediately cast blizzaga at Ember, catching him completely off-guard. As he rocketed backwards into the ground, Vincent drew his Cerberus and fired round after round at Cloud. It was amazing – the gun seemed to house quite a lot of bullets. It fired over twenty rounds at the rapidly dodging Cloud before Vincent lowered it and reloaded. Cloud's Buster sword sizzled in several places where he had blocked the shots manually.

Ember had recovered from his fall – in one uncharacteristically graceful move, he pushed off of the ground as he summoned his laser sais, doing a mid-air spin as he landed behind Aerith. Launching into a volley of powerfully quick swings, Aerith didn't stand a chance to block. She was juggled farther and farther across the dome, Ember furiously pounding her backside.

Cloud left Vincent as he reloaded his Cerberus; he needed to save Aerith from Ember. In one mighty slash, Ember flew across the dome and smashed into the fence, nearly dropping his sais in the process.

Vincent turned and drew another weapon, previously hidden beneath his red cloak. Even in his uniform, he opted to further distinguish himself from the rest of the Legion Knights…perhaps he was farther down the road to becoming a Chaser than Cloud and Aerith had originally thought?

Any doubt of this was removed as he steadied his new weapon – a long, cylindrical black tube, bearing a sleek, stylized handgrip – on his shoulder. Pulling the trigger twice in the time it would take a normal marksman to pull the trigger once, he fired two glowing orbs at Cloud and Aerith. They left a swirling orange smoke in their wake, bearing down on the heroes.

"Split up," Cloud said, pushing the wounded Aerith away as he ran in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, his plan was foiled by the heat-seeking orbs – they followed Cloud and Aerith, detonating with a stunning orange and black flash.

The audience whooped and hollered – it was quite a display. Thorn angrily turned to Setzer.

"Sir, he did not present that weapon for inspection…"

Setzer swiveled in his chair, almost undetectably. He raised a hand and motioned for Thorn to calm down. "Let them put on a show…the audience is loving it…"

"But sir…heat-seeking weapons provide an unfair advan-"

"An unfair advantage? Against Cloud Strife? Even if Vincent had 1,000 of those weapons mounted on a tank, the odds would still be in Strife's favor."

Cloud and Aerith lurched forward as the blast collided with them. Weakly rising herself from the ground, Aerith was helped up by a soot-covered Cloud. As they turned to face Ember and Vincent on the other side of the dome, a large, rotating box appeared in the center of the arena. Vincent wasted no time in firing a single bullet at the box – with a loud 'ding', the box stopped on an image of an X. They hadn't the slightest idea what it meant…but they knew they'd find out.

Seconds later, up from the ground sprung two chain link walls, just like the fence around the dome. The first split right down the middle of the dome, creating halves, and the second shot across the halves, quartering the dome. Each quarter held one of the combatants, clockwise from Ember to Cloud, then to Aerith and finally Vincent. On each of the four walls, a centered keyhole was barely visible above eye level, blending in with the silver and black chain link fence.

"Isolation dens! These can be tricky to get out of! If you're not freed in five minutes, the show's over for you!" the announcer taunted.

Each of their weapons vanished from their hands in a puff of smoke. Ember and Vincent tried to summon their weapons once again, but they failed. Cloud slammed his fist into the wall – it rattled incessantly, but didn't move an inch.

"Okay contestants – examine your surroundings. Take your pick…but choose wisely!" In front of each of them a computer screen materialized, showing a small icon of various weapons. Each and every weapon that had been entered into the tournament had been replicated and made available for selection.

Ember and Cloud had located their weapons – sais in hand, Ember slashed furiously at the fence, but it barely seemed to do any damage at all. Cloud hacked away with his Buster Sword, doing infinitesimally more damage than Ember. They pounded on the same wall, gritting their teeth at each other, Ember's still hidden behind his mask. Most walls would crumble under this sort of attack, Cloud knew. Five minutes was a joke - they'd be slashing all day at the reinforced steel walls.

"C'mon…where is it…" she scrolled past images quickly. Tidus' blue, glassy sword…Kale's impressive bow…Zell's weighted gloves… "Found it!" she said, tapping the screen as a familiar weapon materialized in her hand. "Gee, feels kind of neat to finally hold one of these…" she said, pointing the replica of Mickey's keyblade at the fence between Cloud and herself. After struggling for a moment, the fence gave way and sank back into the ground. The keyblade was indeed just a replica – the amount of power in it was only a fraction of Mickey's true keyblade.

Vincent, on the other side of the fence, had gotten creative. After selecting Selphie's nunchaku, he ripped them apart and nimbly bent one of the chain links into a small, but effective, lock pick. Soon, he and Ember were reunited, opposite Cloud and Aerith. Simultaneously, Aerith unlocked one of the final panels as Vincent picked the other one open – their weapons flashed, replacing them with Aerith's staff and Vincent's Cerberus. Cloud wasted no time beginning his assault on Ember.

Ember kicked Cloud backwards as he clenched his hands together, igniting them in flames.

"If you're gonna know my name, might as well know why I got it…" he said, punching Cloud with his burning fists. Cloud's shirt and cloak were tattered and burnt by the time Aerith knocked Ember away with a thundaga attack; Vincent stood back, firing his gun rapidly. As his Cerberus was depleted once again, he reached around his cloak, readying his rocket launcher for another string of attacks…

Aerith and Cloud looked between Ember and Vincent as they parried Ember's attacks. Giving her a knowing look, Cloud stepped backwards and gripped his sword in an interesting fashion – with a faint click, it split in two – revealing a large, nearly hollow version of his regular sword, and a smaller, sleeker one with a pronged blade.

Aerith and Cloud started their limit attack – "FUNERAL PYRE!" they called, as Aerith swiftly smashed Ember in the face – his mask shattered inches from his face as blood trickled down his nose. Aerith cried 'gravity!', as Ember was slammed to the ground, his brown, spiked hair fanning out around him like a dirty halo. Cloud slammed his smaller sword down, inches above the Knight's head – right into his mane of hair. As Ember struggled to break free of the gravity spell, he realized that his hair was pinned to the ground by Cloud's sword – he couldn't raise himself up, let alone move.

Cloud smiled at Vincent from across the dome, flashing a peace sign as the other Knight pulled the trigger thrice on his rocket launcher – sending three glowing orbs straight at Cloud. In the blink of an eye, Aerith had cast two spells – a well timed blizzaga attack hit Cloud in the back, causing the heat-seeking missiles to veer around him as they sought the next heat-laden target. Aerith also happened to cast a powerful firaga at Ember's feet, creating a small but fierce pillar of flames to issue forth.

"Don't you get it? I'm fireproof, stupid!" Ember said as the flames licked at his feet.

"That's not what I'm counting on," Aerith said, yanking the sword free from Ember's tangled hair.

As he sat up, laughing about Aerith's foolish attempt to burn him alive, Aerith cast a protective 'reflega' spell around herself…Ember never even had a chance to think of Vincent's rockets…

The flash of light completely engulfed him – orange and black shot out in all directions as all three rockets connected fully with the Legion Knight. As the light subsided, Vincent was teleported out of the dome by himself. Ember's body was never seen again - his markings transferred themselves onto the remaining Knight's uniforms like thousands of tiny fireflies exiting the dome.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! A stunning victory for Cloud and Aerith! Ember and Vincent, show's over! And that's the showdown, ladies and gentlemen! Your winners - Cloud and Aerith!"

The audience didn't seem to notice that Vincent left alone – nor did they notice that the 'no killing' rule was violated – the finish to the much anticipated match was far too exciting. Everyone in the stands was on their feet, screaming at the top of their lungs. Even Pete found himself impressed with the display as a portion of Ember's markings landed on his uniform.

"Don't start celebrating yet, combatants," Setzer said as he rose from underground on a circular platform. "There's still one rung left on the ladder…"


	71. Chapter LXXI: Jenova's Witness

CHAPTER LXXI

JENOVA'S WITNESS

"What do you mean, 'another rung'? We've beaten everyone that entered!" Aerith yelled, exasperation shaking her voice.

"True, you have bested everyone else in the competition…but the previous champion still remains…" he lied, trying to rationalize his use for 'insurance'. "This is a one-on-one match," he said, snapping his fingers. Aerith blinked out of the dome in a flash of light, reappearing outside by the bleachers.

Cloud picked up the other half of his Buster sword, clipping it into place with the one in his hand. Setzer started to lower himself back into the floor as the top of the dome opened like a hatch - the arena filled with a blinding white light as a sleek, black shadow descended through the hole in the dome.

"Win this one, and you'll claim your prize…5,000 munny and the precious Boulder Bear. Good luck!" he said smirking, as the hatch above him shut.

The figure was impressive – silhouetted against the white spotlight, it seemed that his body absorbed the light around him…his body remained a dark shadow, eclipsing the light, until he touched down softly on the ground. As the light subsided, the audience caught their first glimpse of the last man that stood in Cloud's way.

Long, platinum hair caressed his shoulders, reaching down to his back. His pale complexion was made even more ghostly by the amount of black clothing he wore - perhaps the most interesting feature of the man was his singular, demonic wing. It extended and showed its dark feathers proudly against the remnants of the white spotlight as the man drew his weapon – a long, silver sword, easily twice as long as Cloud's, but much thinner.

The audience fell deathly silent. Even the announcer was at a loss for words as he said, "The m…match for Underground Grand Showdown Champion begins…Cloud versus…the One-Winged Angel!"

Cloud furrowed his brow as he stared at the so-called angel. He had been right all along – Sephiroth was alive and well. Holding his Buster Sword up to the impressive looking Masamune which Sephiroth wielded, Cloud said nothing as he attacked.

The swords clashed fantastically – a flurry of silver and black shot around the inside of the dome. Sephiroth swung mightily, knocking Cloud backwards. Cloud slid on his knees, steadying himself with his arm, bounding back at Sephiroth. He connected – Sephiroth was juggled upward, barely showing any sign of discomfort. As Cloud prepared to slash his torso, a flash of darkness engulfed Sephiroth. He teleported behind Cloud, swinging his Masamune overhead – pummeling Cloud into the ground below.

In the stands, Mickey and Aerith had to restrain themselves from jumping into the fray and finding some way into the dome. Cloud was at a major disadvantage…he had just fought through some of the toughest matches in the Showdown, and now Sephiroth? Even at his best, Cloud was evenly matched with Sephiroth…

Across the arena, a small group of audience members stood up, watching the battle intently.

"What a bogus rule! Nobody knew about that guy!" Seifer shouted.

"Yeah! Boo! Boooooo!" screamed Hayner, making a rude gesture toward the dome.

"Looks like we've been totally ripped off, bros…" Zell added, cracking his knuckles.

"Mmhmm…even if we won the Showdown, that big blowhard would have just ripped us apart, y'know?" Rai figured.

"Cheaters…" Fuu continued. "Payback."

Cloud wearily looked up at Sephiroth as the Masamune came crashing down in front of him. As he rolled out of the way, Sephiroth's sword stuck deep into the ground – as he yanked it free, a shockwave of rubble and dark energy pulsed along the floor, sending Cloud reeling into a barbed portion of the fence.

"This almost isn't even worth it…" Sephiroth chided, slowly walking toward Cloud. He writhed in agony as he struggled to stand, using his Buster Sword as a crutch. "I wait all this time to finally fight you again, Cloud…and this weak display is all you have to offer?" He cracked Cloud across the jaw with his fist, causing the hero to drop down to one knee.

The rest of the audience couldn't get enough – the man they had just watched decimate hoards of challengers was now at the mercy of the One-Winged Angel. Setzer swiveled triumphantly in his chair, barely even focusing on the fight. The munny was as good as his…he didn't have to pay a soul…

"We'd like to air a personal grievance, you filthy, rotten cheater…" Seifer said, standing in his doorway. Behind him stood Hayner, Zell, Fuu and Rai – all weapons drawn, all looking quite intimidating.

"What? You lost – you have no right to be up here…" Setzer explained, pushing a hidden button beneath his desk console. A large door to the right opened to reveal Thorn, smiling as if he was being rewarded for a job well-done. Next to him stood Rose and Lily, each brandishing a long, electrified staff. Their faces were sullen and mechanical – nothing like they had been at the registration table.

"Rose, Lily, Thorn…deal with this riff-raff, would you?"

Mickey and Aerith tore down the entryway of the Setzer Dome – Vincent slowly walked ahead of them, heading for the door.

"Vincent! Stop," Mickey said, as Vincent slowed, reaching for the door handle leading out into Starsweep Underground.

"Please…Vincent…you've come so far. Don't throw it all away now…" Aerith pleaded.

Vincent spoke with his back to Aerith and Mickey. "Don't tell me what I've accomplished…I've tried…" he seemed to be struggling, "I've tried my hardest…yet, I'm still a heartless…the darkness still consumes me…and it'll consume you too, if you don't stay back…" he said, letting go of the doorknob.

"We can help you, Vincent…" Mickey begged. "Just don't…"

Vincent turned and snarled at Mickey through his Fanged Mask, drawing his Cerberus and pointing it at his head. "Doesn't this look familiar…" he said, shooting three rounds at Mickey in a heartbeat.

"Sorry, Sephiroth…allow me to give you what you came for…" bellowed Cloud, drawing all of his energy inward. He began to glow a bright, glowing blue, as his feet delicately lifted from the ground. The blue aura encased his sword, and his cloak – in a flash, Cloud took off around the dome, flying inches above the ground with his Buster Sword out front. Each pass he took by Sephiroth, he swung heartily – Sephiroth couldn't block these attacks…they pierced his flesh, drawing first blood in the super-final match.

Steadying himself on the opposite side of the dome, Cloud and Sephiroth stared each other down. Sephiroth laughed, wiping a speck of blood from his arm. A harsh, pink glow surrounded him, exactly like Cloud's…faster than anyone in the audience could see, Cloud and Sephiroth dove at each other, weapons over head, igniting a massive clash of pink and blue in the center of the dome. The explosion was fierce – the pink and blue beams of light shot out in a spectacular fireworks display, shaking the foundation of the Setzer Dome. As they held their swords together, unrelenting, the beams grew stronger and faster – ripping chunks of the reinforced steel dome apart, sending them flying.

The audience screamed as they tried to dodge out of the way of the falling dome pieces – Rekka, Zell's chocobo, headbutted a large section before it fell on top of a small group of onlookers. Tidus swung upward and sliced a piece clear in two before it pummeled a group of older gentlemen to bits.

"This match is UNBELIEVABLE! Never have I seen two fighters strong enough to destroy the battle dome! I can't-" but the announcer's voice was cut short – a shard of the dome pierced through the announcer's booth, high above the arena, silencing the loudmouthed know-it-all.

"Another innocent life you've taken, Sephiroth…" Cloud muttered through clenched teeth. Innocent as he was, Cloud couldn't deny that the silence was a relief…

"You're just as much at fault for his demise as I," Sephiroth shot back, flinging Cloud backwards as the pink and blue explosions ceased. Cloud tumbled across the arena floor, no dome left to break his fall, as thousands of audience members watched in awe.

Sephiroth smiled, creating a group of black orbs around Cloud's body…slowly closing them inward, ready to finish this match…


	72. Chapter LXXII: Bear Necessities

CHAPTER LXXII

BEAR NECESSITIES

In Setzer's viewing room next to the battle arena, a fierce fight raged between the cheaters and the tournament losers – Zell and Rai had backed Thorn into a corner, beating him senseless. The four-armed freak was strong, but Zell was quicker and Rai was stronger. Oddly enough, Thorn wore the two oddly shaped gauntlets that Johnny Go-Go had tried to enter with in the preliminaries, and with his remaining hands merely wore weighted gloves like Zell.

Across the room, Seifer and Setzer were locked in battle on top of his computer console – not expecting a fight, Setzer was unarmed – quite a bad position to be in against a gunblade, especially one wielded by Seifer. Pulling the trigger precisely, a massive blow launched Setzer through the glass mirror that separated his room from the arena.

The audience had seen enough – between the death of the announcer and now their host launching through a window into the arena – they all began to dart for the emergency exits near the rear of the dome. Even the dimwitted Pete began to realize that something strange was afoot…

Fuu and Hayner were in heated combat with Rose and Lily – they were faster than any of them, though they used their elecro-staffs inefficiently.

Near the entrance hall, Aerith cried 'reflega', protecting Mickey from the barrage of bullets issued from Vincent's Cerberus. As the spell subsided, Mickey dove at Vincent, desperately attempting to knock him out…

Near the arena floor, Cloud did a rapid horizontal spin, deflecting the dark energy orbs back at Sephiroth – they struck him backwards, sending him sliding into the now vacant bleachers.

"You dirty cheat!" Seifer choked as Setzer held him against the wall of the arena. "You rigged the whole contest, didn't you…"

"How perceptive…too bad you and your boneheaded friend were eliminated anyway…otherwise I would take great pleasure in depriving you your hard earned munny…" Setzer spat, choking Seifer harder. Seifer's gunblade laid a few feet away, wrenched from his hand by the maniacal gambler.

Hayner left Lily on the ground – she was bested by the young man's exceptional maneuvers – as he struck Setzer in the back of the head with Lily's electrostaff, knocking him away from his friend as he slid limply to the ground.

The battle grew fiercer from that point on – almost on cue from Setzer's piercing, shrill shriek, the fighters grew rabid…fanatical…the stakes were high for everyone in the room… By the entry way, Vincent darted between Mickey and Aerith's constant attacks by hiding in his flowing, blood-red cloak. They swung accurately – but some of their attacks just glided through the fabric like it was a ghost. Hayner and Seifer double teamed Setzer, who had picked up Lily's electrostaff to block Hayner's double-bladed kitana and Seifer's mighty gunblade. On the opposite side of the room, Thorn tumbled out of Setzer's viewing chamber, knocked out by Zell and Rai. They traded high-fives as Fuu was knocked backwards by Rose.

"Fuu!" Rai called, rushing over to his incapacitated friend. "Damn it, I'll teach you some friggin' manners, y'know!" Rai bellowed, cracking Rose in the waist with his weighted staff. She crumpled to the ground, completely unconscious.

Sephiroth smiled as he hovered above the bleachers, rising higher and higher into the air. "Descend…heartless angel…" he cried, bathing Cloud in an eerie red aura.

"Damn…" Cloud whispered, clutching his chest as he grew ever weaker…he tried to stand, but his strength was draining rapidly…

High above the Setzer dome, Pete tiptoed as silently as he could in the catacombs above the ceiling.

"Should be right about…" Pete surveyed the dark, concrete floor of the Setzer Dome's attic, "here!" Pete punched hole downward through the concrete, raining bits and pieces on Cloud's head from far above.

Thorn slowly stood up, aiming his gauntlet's at Zell's unaware backside…pushing the hidden buttons, two long, dagger like darts shot out and embedded themselves in Zell – electrifying him the moment after, like a super-strong taser gun. Zell screamed in anguish as Rai rushed Thorn, head on, slamming his staff on the bodyguard's thick head…

Vincent fell to the ground as Mickey's keyblade luckily connected with him – as quickly as she could, Aerith ripped the ropes that created the ticket line down and tied up her former friend, hoisting him over her shoulder.

"This is for your own good, pal…" Mickey said, slamming the blunt edge of his keyblade into Vincent's temple, knocking him out cold. "Let's get him to the Fenretto, then we can help Cloud!" he said, as Aerith agreed. They bounded out of the Setzer Dome, tearing through the streets of Starsweep Underground, heading for their gummi ship…

Zell took a visual clue from Aerith and proceeded to tie up Thorn, Rose and Lily – Rai stood over Fuu's slumped body.

"Uh…I'm no good at this…" he said, holding his hands out over his friend. "Heal!" he whispered, as small green specks issued from his hands. They weren't much – but they allowed Fuu to regain consciousness and stand with the help of her hulking friend.

"Thanks…" she said, gripping his shoulder tightly.

Cloud looked upwards at the source of the rubble…was that Pete's arm? It was reaching out of the hole in the ceiling for…the Boulder Bear! He quickly realized what was going on – that dimwit was going to steal the prize he had worked so hard to attain…it wasn't going to happen, Cloud decided.

Using his last ounce of strength, Cloud ripped his Buster Sword in two once again, swung the smaller side overhead and released – aiming straight for the ceiling. Sephiroth glanced upward as the attack sorely missed him – he had almost drained all of Cloud's energy…when the sword clanged with the cage holding the Boulder Bear. Freed from the ceiling, it fell fifty feet below and smashed into Sephiroth's head with a deafening thud; the bronze statue certainly was heavy. Sephiroth stopped hovering and plummeted awkwardly toward the ground, as Cloud's red aura subsided, filling him with energy…

As he reattached his sword and stared Sephiroth down once more, Cloud saw Pete scampering away through the exit – having lost the Boulder Bear, Vincent and Ember, Pete finally realized how vulnerable he was…

Setzer's mane of hair whipped around him as Hayner and Seifer juggled him near his viewing room – as he slumped to the ground, unconscious, Hayner reached into Setzer's lavish tuxedo and produced a large sack of munny – quite possibly more than had been collected from all of the combatants of the Showdown put together. Smiling profusely, Seifer, Hayner, Fuu, Rai and Zell all congratulated each other off to the side of the arena, while one threat still remained.

"You've grown stronger, Cloud…more clever as well…I can't deny you that much…" Sephiroth said as he and Cloud circled the arena, swords nearly touching. "It'll be nice to watch you die knowing that you were practicing for this battle…"

The walls of the Setzer Dome rocked unstably, debris falling at the heroes' feet.

"What the hell was that!" Zell asked, spinning around like a crazed hummingbird.

His question was answered as the sleek, black and purple Fenretto blasted through the northern wall of the Setzer Dome, bearing straight through like it was a going through any normal tunnel. Mickey furrowed his brow as he blasted Sephiroth with repeating cannon fire, rocketing him like a ragdoll into the southern wall. Aerith dangled precariously from the bay doors, reaching down for Cloud as Mickey lowered the ship.

"C'mon!" Aerith yelled, smiling down at Cloud. Rolling his eyes, Cloud grabbed the Boulder Bear and Aerith's hand in one motion, being pulled around the dome in a huge loop. Hayner held up the munny pouch as Cloud and the Fenretto grew closer.

"Hey! This is yours, fair and square!" Hayner said, about to toss Cloud the munny. Cloud swung the Boulder Bear up into the cargo hold and hoisted himself up as well – as the hatch closed, he shouted back down toward Hayner and his friends.

"Keep it," he smirked. "I got what I came for."

Sephiroth watched the Fenretto shoot out of the Setzer Dome through a newly blasted hole in the wall as he tore himself free from the piles of debris that had rained down upon him. The ship tore down the streets and out of sight – heading back up the stairwell that led back to space. Sephiroth frowned slightly, disappearing in a thick cloud of dark smoke.

Out of the rubble to the side of the Setzer Dome, a thin, wispy man clawed his way out of the wreckage. Still holding a silver microphone in his hand, he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"AMAZING! THE MOST SPECTACULAR GRAND SHOWDOWN IN CENTURIES! THIS IS ROWDY RON RAMBLER SAYING 'SHOW'S OVER, STARSWEEP UNDERGROUND!'" he shouted, fainting backwards into a pile of rocks as his broken glasses slid off of his dirty, tear streaked face.


	73. Chapter LXXIII: Figment Plateau

CHAPTER LXXIII

FIGMENT PLATEAU

The Barrett had flown for nearly a half-hour over the skies of The World That Never Was until the ship's computer beeped incessantly, telling them that they had arrived at their coordinates. Looking all around the ship through the clear windows, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy couldn't see a single thing of interest – the lines of buildings had stopped, and below them was only a long stretch of muted wheat-fields.

"Up," Biggs croaked, falling asleep once more from the strain. Sora took the ship upwards, weaving between the thick clouds. As they got higher and higher, they noticed the clouds lightened from black to gray, then to a beautiful, ethereal white.

"There!" Kairi gasped, pointing out of the ship's view screen. A massive upside down dome sat floating in the sky, seemingly resting on the clouds below. The silver and white dome gleamed in the sunlight – it was the first time Sora had seen sunlight in quite some time…

"Figment Plateau, huh?" Sora said, reading the back of the coordinate card once again. As the ship touched down on the crystalline launch pad near the edge of the circular city, the friends all were able to grasp the scope of where they had landed: a huge cathedral was straight ahead, the one road in the city leading to it. Several small, white houses peppered the streets of the floating city, but it was a relatively small town. Sora carried Wedge over his shoulder while Riku and Goofy shared the weight of Biggs – Kairi, Donald and Eddy followed them as they awkwardly walked toward the center of town.

The roads were crystalline, almost like a rock-paved road, but one-hundred times as shiny. Each house seemed almost cloudlike – Sora could have sworn that they swayed with the wind as he passed – and the entire village was beautiful.

Suddenly, the doors to the cathedral burst open, revealing a tall man in white robes. Black strings hung down in front of his stark-white chest, making the man look quite ghostly. He dashed down the stairs, holding the front of his robes up skillfully so he didn't trip – as he stopped in the center of the town holding his hand out to halt the weary travelers, Sora looked him over carefully.

The man was handsome, bearing a strange 'smug' attitude on his face. It didn't look oppressive – just…individual. He pursed his lips as Sora stared up at his head – a flowing mane of red, fiery hair came down to his neck, creating two distinctive sideburns in front of his ears. His eyes had a tinge of yellow in the pupil – but the most interesting parts of the man were his facial tattoos – diamond shaped black markings adorned his face, right under his eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…you kids in a hurry to get your asses kicked?" he said smugly, looking at each of the heroes in turn.

"No…it's not like that – our friends Biggs and Wedge need help…they told us to come here…" Sora explained, desperate to start out on this man's good side. There was something friendly about him, though he spoke harshly. Sora couldn't put his finger on it…

"Biggs and Wedge?" asked the man, a hint of panic in his voice. "Bring them to the cathedral. BOYS!" he called, turning to lead Sora and his companions into the cathedral.

After a few minutes of intense healing from the red-haired man and his two apprentices, Sora spoke up.

"Are they…gonna be alright?" he asked.

"Shh…the most important part of healing is…well…giving the patient time to heal. Got it?"

"Memorized," Sora said instinctively.

"What?"

There was a long, awkward pause in the cathedral as the red-head stared intently into Sora's eyes.

"Lae?" Sora half-asked, half-knew. "Your name's Lae…right?"

"…Yeah," said Lae, shaking off the odd situation. "Boys, take Biggs and Wedge to the spare cabin…let 'em rest. It's gonna take 'em a few days to fully recover."

"Lae…" Kairi said under her breath. "Hey Lae – would you mind telling us where we are?"

"Sure – this is Figment Plateau; right now, you're standing in the cathedral. The Cathedral of Chasers."

Later that day, Lae and his two partners prepared a meager, but appreciated meal for the travelers. Biggs and Wedge were doing fine – it would take a few days until they could move about freely, but at least they were breathing. Riku and Kairi ripped into some bread while Sora toyed with a glass of water. Donald and Goofy ate quietly, trying to show some manners…

"How did you know…" Lae finally began to ask. Sora replied by sliding the slip with the message on it across the table towards Lae. "Oh," he replied, stabbing a piece of steak with his fork. "These are my assistants – Yod and Heiro. Look – I was honest with Biggs and Wedge, and I'll be honest with you."

Sora, Riku and Kairi stared at Lae with undivided attention.

"We're not normal…a few years back, we were turned into Heartless…a Heartless is this-"

"We're familiar with the term," Riku said through a mouthful of bread, slightly tensing up at the news. They sure didn't act like heartless…

"Okay, well then I'm sure you understand how they work…traveling the universe, seeking hearts to feed Kingdom Hearts…blah, blah, blah…"

"Right, right…" Donald said, tapping his flipper impatiently.

"Basically, we know that when a Heartless is destroyed, the heart goes to feed Kingdom Hearts. Last year, we had a huge battle outside of Kingdom Hearts, and it's stopped taking in hearts like it used to – it leaves them in something called 'limbo'..." Sora said, switiching on his micro-com. "Hey, Cid, Cloud, Merlin…you guys should hear all of this…" he said, leaving it on so everyone was caught up all at once.

"Yeah, okay, thanks for the history lesson," Lae said, frustration growing in his voice.

"For a religious guy you sure got a weird attitude," Riku said, staring at the robed man.

"The Almighty helps all kinds, smartass. Got it? Anyway, Yod, Herio and I have conquered the darkness in our hearts. We're no longer heartless drones…"

"That's great!" Kairi emphatically yelled, bouncing in her seat. Riku grabbed her shoulder and forced her to sit – Lae had much more to say.

"But we're also not whole…"

"Your Nobodies…you need your Nobodies…" Sora stammered, staring down into his drink. "Of course…"

Shocked at how quickly Sora was getting the gist of things, Lae continued. "By beating the darkness and ceasing to be Heartless, we became Chasers…searching for our one, individual Nobody…our completion…that which would make us whole again. It's kind of like what the Nobodies do…but we're a heck of a lot smarter." He stopped toying with his food as he pushed the plate away from him, continuing his speech. "Most Chasers give up hope after a while…but those who believe that the Almighty will make us whole are welcome to live in Figment Plateau. It's a religious community of sorts…got it?"

Sora blinked. "Uh…yeah," he staved off the urge to finish Lae's statement.

"Lae…your Nobody…" Sora said softly.

"You've seen him!" Lae's eyes bulged, almost leaping across the table with excitement.

"Yeah…he's…dead," Sora said. "He died while saving me…Lae, I'm sorry…"

Lae shifted his eyes from Sora's. He stared off into the clouds through the skylight thoughtfully for almost a full minute before his watery eyes clinched up in an unmistakable grin. He smiled and laughed harder than he ever had before, rising up and dancing around the table.

"Uh…what's so great about that?" Goofy asked, milk dripping from his mouth.

"Don't you know! If a Nobody dies doing something noble, he goes on to the Nobody Graveyard! Nobodies don't have hearts – they don't have emotion – so for a Nobody to die doing something noble like saving a life, well, the Almighty rewards them by placing them in the Nobody Graveyard! Now I'm practically guaranteed to meet him!"

"So…that's just a religious belief…" Riku said, dismissing the idea. Lae grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, holding him at eye-level.

"For some people, religion is all they have. Got it?"


	74. Chapter LXXIV: The Keyblade's Foil

CHAPTER LXXIV

THE KEYBLADE'S FOIL

Deep beneath the altar of the cathedral, Lae, Yod and Heiro assembled a long table with a long, tattered scroll rolled out across it. Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Riku and Sora stood back, watching the three men light candles and shift them into odd formations.

"What's going on…exactly…" Sora said, his head reeling from all the excitement. He was at least relieved to know that Mickey, Aerith and Cloud had not only destroyed Ember, but also had recovered the Boulder Bear and Vincent Valentine…it was definitely good news that he sorely needed after losing the Frozen Eel…

"So we've said before that Nobodies go to the Graveyard when they die doing noble acts…right?"

"According to the Chaser's religion…" Riku pointed out, not trying to start another argument with Lae.

"Well, we've been praying to the Almighty to let us into the Nobody Graveyard. He answered – watch," he said, spreading his hands outward.

Yod and Heiro started to chant in a strange, low tongue that none of them could understand. Lae clapped his hands together and read several strange words from the scroll on the table, almost melodically, like a song that was painful to sing…

"Wex Payrx Ouxy, Mexak Uxs Loxhew…" muttered Axel, over and over, Heiro and Yod joining in later. A stunning grey light filled the room as a door that dwarfed the door to Timeless River appeared. It was twice as large and three times as ornate – in the center of the door stood four icons, forming a beautiful diamond shape…

Sora recognized three of them at once; the crown he wore around his neck, the Heartless emblem, the Nobody insignia and a small, circular shape that sprouted four bulbs like a flower.

"What's that one?" Sora said, pointing at the last sign he didn't recognize.

Lae gestured for Sora to come over to the scroll – they read a small list together, with Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy around the other side of the table.

The first picture of the broken heart with brambles splitting it in four said beneath it in large, stylized letters "HEARTLESS."

The next, an upside-down heart with a jagged, pointy top, read "NOBODY."

The crown that hung from Sora's neck, complete with three small baubles on the top, read "COMPLETE."

And beneath that, a picture of the circle sprouting four bulbs, each resembling the top portion of a heart, read "CHASER."

When they looked back at the door, a closer inspection showed them something new – four identical keyholes, each inside one of the icons.

"The Almighty has shown us the door…yet it is sealed, preventing us from entering. The ancient texts maintain that to open the door, one must tread the four paths…yet in all of our studies, we have yet to discover what they really mean…"

Sora drew his keyblade in a cocky manner, pointing it at the Complete insignia – the door clicked, but didn't budge. Motioning for Riku and Kairi to help, they also drew their keyblades. Kairi thought about Namine as she pointed her keyblade at the Nobody logo…Riku gritted his teeth when he thought about Xehanort possessing his body, as he pointed his blade sharply at the Heartless sign…

The door clicked again, but still yielded no results. When Sora pointed his keyblade at the Chaser keyhole, nothing happened…

"Hey…not bad…" said Lae, rubbing his chin. "Maybe…there's another one of those keys out there somewhere…"

"Mickey," Sora said, turning away and unsummoning his keyblade. "Look, Lae – I know we just got here…but we have a friend that can help us open the door. If Axel's in there, we can make you whole again…and maybe we can find everyone else's Nobodies, too…" Sora said, thinking back to all the friends that the Legion had turned into Heartless.

Riku and Kairi silently nodded.

Sora tapped his micro-com. "King Mickey? Can you meet us…" he started to say, but his micro-com shook and rattled with static as Mickey's voice was barely audible from the other end.

"Sora! We've crash landed…a Legion ship came outta nowhere and clipped us…"

"Are you alright!" Kairi shouted into Sora's micro-com, not concerned with his delicate eardrums.

"Yeah…we're alright…but this place is weird…I feel awful small…even for a mouse…" he said warily. "BACK OFF! I'm warning you…" Mickey shouted, terminating the transmission. Obviously, something strange had threatened him…

"Mickey? Mickey! We need your coordinates!" Riku shouted. Cid chuckled on the other end of the line.

"Don't get yer panties in a bunch, kiddo…got 'em uploaded into the Barrett already – bon voyage!"

Sora turned and smiled at Lae, Yod and Heiro. "We'll be back – and we'll have one more keyblade master with us," he said, running off toward the Barrett with Donald, Goofy, Kairi and Riku at his heels. "Take good care of Biggs and Wedge!"

Lae smiled for the first time since the news about Axel's death, waving at his saviors as they ran off to save their friends. Clapping Yod and Heiro on the back, he headed toward the extra cabin, eager to see his old companions Biggs and Wedge, and his new friend Eddy, fast at work steadily healing them back to full…


	75. Chapter LXXV: An Uphill Climb

CHAPTER LXXV

AN UPHILL CLIMB

Pete hung his head low. Sitting in his seat at the meeting table on the Nexus Machine, he softly whacked his forehead against the table, awaiting his master's arrival…

Moments later, Maximilian sauntered in the room, followed by Maleficent. Their robes seemed brighter – it was clear that they knew Ember had been eliminated. Leon and Tifa each followed, bearing a sullen disposition. Jafar brought up the rear, tapping his staff on the floor as he slowly walked to his seat.

Maximilian and Jafar were the only two Knights that still wore their masks to every meeting, besides the Strange Man – Leon and Tifa had shed theirs, and Pete couldn't get one to fit his bulbous head, anyway. Maleficent insisted it took away from her beauty…

"I take it you have news for me?" Maximilian said, sitting in his throne. Pete cautiously stood up and raised his hand to his head, saluting his general.

"Uh…y…yes, sir…the Unsmiling Man, Ember has been eliminated…"

"Sora?" the Smiling Man drawled slowly.

"Actually…it was that spiky, blonde haired kid…Rainbow or Nimbus or somethin'…"

"Cloud," Leon corrected him, smirking. "Go figure."

"And what of the Fanged Man, Knight Vincent?" Maximilian continued, impatience slowly saturating his voice.

"He…was kidnapped by dat little insect Mickey and Cloud's girlfriend…dey stole the Boulder Bear too, master Max…"

"MAXIMILIAN!" he bellowed, standing from his chair. "Respect your superiors…I should strip you of your uniform for insubordination…and we all know what happens to discharged Legion Knights, don't we?"

Pete thought hard – he didn't know what Maximilian was talking about, but he decided it was for the best. Slowly nodding, he said, "yes, Maximilian sir…"

The sliding door to the meeting room slid open as the Strange Man gracefully ducked inside. He walked straight up to Maximilain at the head of the table.

"Here," he said, tossing the Frozen Eel haphazardly on the table in front of his superior. "Any more challenging missions you need to send me on?"

"Perhaps, Strange…sit. We've lost Ember and the Boulder Bear," Maximilian said quickly, recapping the latecomer.

"Pshht…" the Strange Man exhaled, making a mockery of the situation. "I could've told you that…never send a complete imbecile to do an idiot's job."

Maximilian tensed up, gripping the edges of his throne harshly as the Strange Man sat arrogantly to his side.

"Be that as it may, we're now two Knights down. The Frozen Eel is the only artifact we currently possess…Sora and the keyblade masters hold four; The Wind Butterfly, the Flame Salamander, the Boulder Bear and of course…the Dark One," he stated, biting his lip after the last bit. He himself had kidnapped Riku, only to have him stolen from right beneath his nose. He wasn't sure if any of the Knight's knew that fact – but surely, it would greatly diminish their respect for him if they did.

"Status reports on your bases of operation, please," Maximilian said, pointing first at Maleficent.

"The Castle That Never Was is running splendidly. The numbers of flying Heartless are steadily multiplying," she reported.

"Good."

"The Asteroid Base is pumping out more ships than we originally thought possible. Some of the Heartless vessels are actually fusing together, creating large warships. It's a very nice armada," Jafar said, having taken over in Vincent and Ember's absence.

"Radiant Garden is positively flooded. I've taken the liberty of…personalizing the place," Leon said smugly, nodding at Tifa. "Ground based Heartless are stronger and smarter than ever, thanks to some special arrangements…"

"Excellent. And I'm happy to report that the Nexus Machine is almost fully operational," Maximilian finished.

"The next order of business – the Eagle of Light. I've decided to send two of you to claim it."

"Good, kill two Knights with one trip…save on gas mileage…" the Strange Man chided under his breath.

"Is there an issue, Strange?"

"Not at all sir…it makes perfect sense for you to double your efforts after losing two of your underlings. Why put yourself at risk? Just send two more minions to their deaths…"

"I won't sit idly by while you insult my operation!" Maximilian said, slamming his fists into the table as he extended to his full height, towering over the Strange Man.

"Why not? You sit idly by during everything else, so why break the mold?" the Strange Man shot back, standing up to match Maximilian's height.

Instantly, Maximilian lunged at the Strange Man's throat, pinning him against the large, glassine window that led out into space behind the table. The Strange Man's feet slowly lifted off of the ground, his fingers clawing at Maximilian's hand to let him go.

"I am perfectly capable of running this operation. Have you forgotten how I've ascended to this position?" his voice trembled with rage. "Born the bastard son of a foolish scientist – a fool who wanted nothing to do with his real flesh and blood!" His grip tightened.

"I cast off my father, who had given me nothing…not a day's worth of notice. Playing with those experiments, he never even knew the scope of the power that dwelled within him…until he passed it off to the Dark One during a foolish fusion, of all things! Imagine, a real flesh and blood son denied the power of the Dark One…only to have his father stupidly hand it over to Riku…the boy who would ultimately lead to his demise."

"Sounds like you have some daddy issues…" the Strange Man choked, refusing to cater to Maximilian's force. Even in the compromising position he was in, the Strange Man remained calm, almost disaffected…

"Xehanort was a foolish man who ruined his only true son's life! I was taken in by the Legion of Shadows shortly after leaving Radiant Garden…they spoke of the Dark One, the Artifacts of Solace…even if my father hadn't been the sole holder of the Dark One's power, I would have been interested in the Legion. Slowly, steadily…I rose through the ranks…"

"You murdered your adoptive family. Let's not mince words…" the Strange Man hit a nerve, causing Maximilian's grip to crack the base of his Strange mask.

"More or less. Once I had gained the utmost position, however, my father had been killed…Sora and his nitwit band of merry men. I thought the power of the Dark One to be destroyed with him, a thought that sent me into despair. Oh…how overjoyed I was when I discovered Riku held the gift of the Dark One…"

He clenched his teeth behind his mask, dropping the Strange Man to the floor like a bag of garbage.

"A gift that should have been mine…" he said, slowly sitting back down into his throne. "Now that we are all perfectly clear on WHY I am in the position I am in," he shot a glance at the now standing Strange Man, "the Frowning Man and Tifa – off with you. The world that the mouse and his companions were marooned on by Pete's ship - the Eagle of Light awaits you there."

Lighting a much needed cigarette, Cid took a deep breath as he processed all the information he had just learned from the audio channels in the Nexus Machine. "That guy needs to learn when to keep his yap shut," he smiled, tapping his micro-com to alert the others.


	76. Chapter LXXVI: Batteries Not Included

CHAPTER LXXVI

BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED

Sora sat on the bridge, sipping tea as Goofy and Riku piloted the Barrett. His brow had been furrowed intently for the past half hour. It certainly was a lot to digest – Maximilian was Xehanort's son, jealous of Riku's so-called 'gift'…

"Would you lighten up, Sora?" Kairi said, clasping a hand on his shoulder softly.

"I'm thinking," he said quietly.

"I thought I smelled smoke..." Riku joked. Noticing Sora's mood change slightly for the better, he was caught completely off guard by the massive vessel that had nudged them from the side.

"Whoa!" Donald quacked as the ship opened fire on them, shaking the Barrett to its core.

"Positions, guys…" Sora shouted, sending everyone to their pre-selected places in the Barrett – Goofy relinquished the main controls to Sora as he shot up to the laser turret – Donald sat down below in the slash gummi pit. Riku and Kairi had already boarded their gummi mechs from the Red Zeppelin – Kairi's 'Olette', and Riku's recently named 'Terra-One'.

The ship that had attacked them seemed to wait until they were right near Mickey's coordinates – perhaps it was heading to the same place - as it filled the space ahead of the Barrett, Riku and Kairi noticed a small, black craft bearing the Legion markings shoot out toward the world's surface. It was too dark to see the actual world – but the ship looked like it had room for more than one Legion Knight…and they knew that was bad news.

The worst news was the size of the Heartless ship compared to the Barrett – nearly three times - and it looked almost organic. It was true that none of the Heartless spaceships looked really mechanical…but this one almost flowed with the same grace that flesh or hair flowed. It resembled a massive clamshell, opening to reveal a huge row of guns that fired concentrated laser blasts into the fore of the Barrett, sending it off to the left in a stunning ricochet.

Sora pulled the controls, desperately vying for dominance of the craft. Goofy awkwardly shot a laser beam in their spin, nearly singing Riku's mech in the process.

"Hold it, Goofy! Wait till we level off…" Sora shouted up the ladder.

Meanwhile, the Clamshell taunted Kairi and Riku by opening and closing its massive mouth, each time presenting a new set of weapons ready to fire. It took some clever maneuvering on Kairi's part to dodge most of the fire – Riku had been saved by her several times at this point. As Kairi and Riku gradually got closer to the Clamshell, it clamped shut and the weapons it fired ceased – leaving it seemingly vulnerable to attack. Firing their wrist rockets and pummeling the outer shell of the ship yielded no results – no matter what they threw at it, the Clamshell protected it.

"Nothing! This thing won't budge!" Riku said, slamming his mechanized fists into the massive enemy.

On the Barrett, Donald noticed something that no one else had. "Sora! Take da ship sideways! Point the slash gummi at it!"

Sora winced when he heard Donald attempt to say 'slash' again…it was almost painful. Doing what his friend suggested, he called down to him, "okay…now what?"

"Get me close…"

As the Barrett closed in on the Clamshell, Donald concentrated hard and fired the slash gummi directly at the mouth of the ship – using all of the weapon's force, he pried the two halves of the ship apart just enough to let Kairi and Riku thrust inside the massive weapon.

"I wouldn't have listened to you if I knew you were planning to feed Kairi and Riku to it!" Sora said, nervously holding the Barrett in position.

The Clamshell rocked unstably – slamming its halves shut, the Barrett was sent into another dizzying spin away from the monstrosity. Inside, Kairi and Riku were able to move comfortably – the weapons inside didn't fire while it was closed, for obvious reasons. As they drew deeper and deeper into the weapon, they saw a massive blue pillar, pulsating with energy.

"Make it more obvious," Riku deadpanned.

"On three, kay?" Kairi said, waving over at Riku. After the countdown they simultaneously fired their rockets at the pillar – explosions rocked the inside of the Clamshell as its weapons started to melt and burst into flame, licking at Riku and Kairi's escaping heels.

"Watch it!" Kairi screamed, her voice coming out of the mech and at Riku like an emotionless robot's. She shoved him out of the way of an oncoming explosion, propelling herself into a drilling spin – aiming at the mouth, she drilled it open, allowing her and Riku to escape before they both re-boarded the Barrett.

The resulting explosion sent the halves of the Clamshell shooting in opposite directions – luckily, one of the halves shot into space opposite the world they were orbiting. Not so good was the other half – it plowed into the Barrett, sending it awkwardly plummeting into the atmosphere of the world below.

They didn't have time to survey the surroundings – the world was huge. As they neared the ground, a feeling similar to the one they had experienced on Ant Island engulfed them…Sora didn't have a spare second to figure out what had happened. The half of the shell veered away from them as Sora grasped at the Barrett's reins, using all his might to keep the vessel together. They saw two huge buildings that looked like simplistic castles – they were certainly big enough to be castles, at least…though they definitely lacked the flair and design of the castles they had seen in the past. Were they castles at all? No…they were just houses…simple, aluminum sided, made-of-plain-old-wood houses…

"Hold on…here's where it gets bumpy…" Sora said through clenched teeth.

"Gee, the smooth part is over…?" Riku joked as his head bounced around on his shoulders.

They saw a brown house with wood paneling near the top of it on their left, complete with a dirty looking sandbox and a raggedy looking shed in the backyard.

"The Legion Knights!" Kairi exclaimed, pointing at the sandbox. Parked neatly in a corner of the sandbox, there sat the Legion spaceship. "They might know where King Mickey is…"

Trying to veer the damaged Barrett toward the sandbox proved difficult – as he wrestled with the controls, the ship pulled to the right, toward the white house next to them. The lawn was well manicured, and it had a powder blue minivan in the driveway. They knew it was too late – with most of the crew closing their eyes for the impact, Sora took the ship through the open window on the second story of the gigantic house.

But the impact was soft and pleasant – opening their eyes, Sora and his friends looked around the Barrett, expecting to see fires and broken equipment everywhere – but the ship was in better shape than they had expected. Attempting to start the Barrett proved hopeless; the ship was broken, but at least the damage seemed reparable. Cautiously exiting the ship, they all stared in different directions as they bounced out onto the soft, loamy landscape.

It was no wonder they hadn't crashed with too much difficulty – the land around them was squishy and soft…almost inviting.

"It's a bed. We crash landed on a bed!" Riku whispered to his friends. As he turned to look at Kairi, he screamed awkwardly and fell backwards, laughing after the initial shock.

"What's so funny?" Kairi asked, looking at herself in the reflection of one of the shinier gummis – she had taken on a new, smaller form. Her red hair was curlier…not quite as soft. Almost as if it were made of felt. Her face was much wider – pudgy, and…sewn on? Kairi had turned into a red-headed rag doll, awkwardly stepping with her rounded, shoeless feet.

"This is unbelievable…" she said, poking her own squishy stomach. "Toys? Why the heck are we toys!"

Goofy and Donald started to laugh at Kairi, but quickly stopped as they turned to face each other – they began to laugh ten times as hard at that point, nearly falling over in the process.

It was easy to see why – Goofy looked similar to his normal self, though his body stood frozen on a small pedestal of rubber. His head was three times it normal size, and it wobbled haphazardly back and forth, teetering on the spring attached to his new neck. Donald had been reduced to a rubbery bath toy – a rubber ducky, wearing Donald's signature clothes.

Riku and Sora looked each other over – they had clearly gotten the best transformations of the group. Riku tested the joints on his action-figure body – they moved in almost all of the same ways his real body moved. Adjusting the army cap on his head, Riku dusted the dirt off of his camouflaged soldier's uniform.

"Not bad…" Sora commented. "I especially like the painted on beard. Very rugged…" Riku slid his plastic hands over his face – he indeed was wearing a silly looking painted-on beard.

"Funny, I used to play with these solider toys all the time when I was a kid. Blew some of 'em up in my backyard…this is a trip, huh?"

"You can say that again…" Sora said, examining his molded hands – they moved like real flesh, but they were clearly plastic. Kairi, Donald and Goofy couldn't do much – they were severely limited by their bodies. Kairi's plush, stuffed body waddled up to Sora.

"Nice headdress, Chief Goofball."

The Indian-outfit clad Sora didn't have much time to examine his brown vest and chaps before a nasal voice rang out from behind them.

"Reach for the sky…"


	77. Chapter LXXVII: The Toybox Gang

CHAPTER LXXVII

THE TOYBOX GANG

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Goofy and Donald tried their best to comply with the voice's request – Kairi, Goofy and Donald could barely lift their awkward arms. What if the voice was from a heartless? They'd never be able to fight in this condition…

But the voice wasn't that of a Heartless – no; a tall, pull-string cowboy doll stood in front of them, clutching a small watergun. His large brimmed red hat sat on his almost oval head – a set of large, beady eyes rested atop a very thin, pointy nose. His checkerboard shirt and blue jeans were tattered with age, or rather, rough play.

"Aw! A Woody doll! I used to have one of these when I was a kid! Check 'im out!" Sora called, rushing up to Woody's side. He grabbed at Woody's arms, squishing the soft foam within.

"Hey! HEY! Cut that out, ya crazy toy! How does a toy have a toy anyway? Hey guys!" he yelled down the foot of the bed. "Guys! It's okay! They're just a bunch of nutjobs!"

"Nutjobs!" Donald squeaked. "You were gonna shoot us!"

Woody looked at his gun sheepishly and smiled back at the friends. "Oh, this? This is just a squirt gun…" he shot Riku in the face, soaking his hat.

Over the foot of the bed, an arm rose, clutching two bulbous eyes. It turned back and forth like a periscope and then the arm's body appeared – a pear-shaped brown potato. Affixing the eyes to his head, he walked up to Woody's side.

"Just a coupla loonies, eh?" he said, surveying the newcomers. He shifted his bowler cap on his head and wiggled his black moustache. "No problem then…they'll be at the bottom of the toybox in a week."

"No dinosaurs! You gotta swear there's no dinosaurs up there, Woody…I can't handle the rejection…" a high-pitched, whiny voice shot up from below.

Woody rolled his glassy eyes. "No, there are no dinosaurs, Rex…just a duck…"

A large, green dinosaur toddled up onto the bed. A tyrannosaurus rex never looked particularly timid – but nothing about the toy said 'terrorizing'. "RAAAAWRRR…!" he said awkwardly, getting only an inch or so from Sora's face. "How'd I do, Woody!"

Slapping his wooden hand against his head, Woody smiled weakly. "Great job, Rex. I think they were almost scared…"

"Baaaaa-loney! They didn't look scared at all, Woody!" a pink piggy-bank said as he hobbled into view. "I'm all fer encouragement, but we can't just LIE to 'em!"

A brown dog with floppy dark ears slinked into view – indeed, his front and back halves were separated by a long, silver slinky. It stretched and wobbled as he walked circles around Sora and his friends.

"Ya fellas come from the birthday party? Yer kinda early…"

"What's going on? Toybox? Birthday party?" Sora pulled at his hair as he tried to diguest the information. "And I'm the loony…"

Riku grabbed his friend by the scruff of the neck and pulled him aside. Looking over their shoulders at the cowboy, t-rex, dog, piggy bank and potato man, they huddled up near the gummi ship and whispered.

"They're toys, right? Well, so are we. We can't blow our cover, stupid!" he said, flicking Sora in the temple. "We gotta play along until we can rescue Mickey and the others."

"Hi! My name's Sora and these are my friends Riku, Kairi, Goofy and Donald! We are birthday presents! Toys! Yep!" he said inconspicuously as he turned back to the toys.

"Okay…cool it, Shakespeare…" Riku growled sideways.

"Well, welcome to Andy's room. It goes without sayin', but I'm Andy's FAVORITE toy around here, so don't get any ideas, okay?"

Looking around, they realized what Woody was talking about – the room was covered in Woody merchandise – posters, pillows, bedspreads and the works. The walls were covered in blue wallpaper with white clouds – a white crib sat on the opposite side of the room. Andy certainly seemed enamored with the small cowboy. Suddenly, a small plant on the nightstand rustled furiously. A small, green man molded to a platform shot out, screaming in a military fashion.

"Andy is heading this way! Repeat, Andy's coming!"

The toys panicked, running around the room like they were on fire. Potato-head and Slink jumped into a corner as the door to the room slammed open. A gigantic boy came bounding in, a mouth full of baby-teeth gleaming from his wide smile. Clutched in his arms was a large, white box that was shaped like a spaceship.

Woody, Rex and Sora's gang immediately flopped over, completely incapacitated on the bed. It was almost instinctive – Sora and his friends became lifeless at the moment Woody and Rex did. Hamm, nestled atop his dresser, looked on as Andy approached the bed.

"I can't wait to play with this!" Andy said, flopping the box onto the bed next to the gummi ship. "Hey, where'd these come from? Oh…" he said, noticing the bobble-headed Goofy, raggedy Kairi and rubber-ducky Donald. "Aunt Joyce…these two aren't too lame, though…" he said, testing Riku's karate chop action. Sora almost laughed out loud as Andy wiggled his legs – it was a weird sensation - like being at the doctor's office, without all the hoo-hah of the white paper on the seats and the lollipop reward afterwards. Sora wished he was at the doctor.

From outside the room, a loud wail filled their ears – a small child, most likely a girl, was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Andy! Let Molly play with some of your toys! You just got a whole bunch of new ones for your birthday, and you need to SHARE!" a mature woman's voice commanded. Andy rolled his eyes.

"But MOM…" he started to protest.

"Now! Or we won't go to Pizza Planet!"

"Fine…she wants toys? She can have these…yuck…" he said, scooping up Donald, Goofy and Kairi. "I guess she can play with you too, Rex…" he said, adding Rex to the pile. "I'll have to play with you later, buddy!" he said to the spaceship box, bounding out of the room. The toys woke up and began to look around the room.

"They took Rex! And three of the weirdos!" Hamm called out down to the toys that were gathering in the center of the room. Slink and Potato-head looked somber, like they were at Rex's funeral.

"They're not weirdos! They're my friends!" Sora yelled, slumping down onto the bed as he racked his brain, trying to figure out a way to save not only Mickey, Cloud and Aerith – but now Kairi, Donald and Goofy as well.


End file.
